
Glass. 



Book E 



.:he 

BRITISH EMPIRE: 

A SKETCH OF THE 

GEOGRAPHY, GROWTH, NATURAL AND 

POLITICAL FEATUEES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, 

ITS COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES. 







CAROLINE BRAY, 

ATTTHOB OF 
' PHYSIOLOGY FOE SCHOOLS.' 



Such is the world's great harmony, that springs 

From order, union, full consent of things ; 

Where small and great, where weak and mighty, made 

To serve, not suffer ; strengthen, not invade ; 

ilore powerful each as needful to the rest, 

And, in proportion as it blesses, blest; 

Draw to one point, and to one centre bring 

Beast, man, or angel, servant, lord, or king. 

Pope's Essay on Man, 



LONDON: 
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, EOBERTS, & GEEEN. 

1863. 



The right of translation is reserved. 



1 a 



PREFACE. 



A few years ago it was suggested to me that a geographical 
-k was needed, which should give a more practical and 
miliar acquaintance with our country and its foreign pos- 
itions than is usually gained in English education, and 
.o~*\ F , simply and briefly, the connection between our political 
' id social conditions and their natural causes — the origin of 
our laws and instit. ' Ions — of our home trades and commercial 
relations — and especially the process of growth by which 
England has made homes for her people in every quarter of 
the globe. 

Since this suggestion was made many excellent works have 
appeared, tending to make Geography an attractive study, by 
combining it largely with natural science and the history of 
man. The present volume is one more attempt to render 
instruction in this direction food for the mind, and not mere 
stuffing for the memory : its aim being to give true ideas 
with respect to the country we live in and the relations of 
England with her colonies and dependencies, unbiassed by 
mere conventional opinion or exaggerated national sentiment. 
A secondary aim has been to furnish for general use a 
book of easy reference, containing particulars hitherto dis- 
persed in histories, cyclopaedias, official reports, and various 
works not usually accessible. The works to which I have 
been chiefly indebted are mentioned in the course of the 



VI PREFACE. 

volume, although scarcely sufficient reference has been made 
to the assistance derived from Knight's English Cyclopaedia 
of Geography. With regard to one or two of the sections, I 
have received aid from friends in the collection of materials, 
which I gratefully acknowledge. 

In compressing so wide a range of subjects into limits so 
narrow, it has been necessary to avoid lingering over details : 
consequently only such lists of names and places have been given 
as were essential to render the work adequate as a ' Geography,' 
while the plan throughout has been to adhere strictly to chro- 
nological order in the narration of events, and to select those 
which stand forth most distinctly as causes of change or pro- 
gress. I am fully aware how bare and imperfect these brief 
histories and descriptive notices are, and how slight is the 
information given compared with the extent of the subject; 
but there has been satisfaction in the conviction that 
knowledge is seldom • dry ' when it is clear knowledge, 
and that there needs little garnish in the telling to render 
interesting the wonderful means by which an overruli / 
Power raises up races and nations, — nurturing their fac 
ties as well as their bodies from the very soil ; and peo ; es 
remote lands with civilised races, by stimulating the energies 
of man to encounter extremest peril and difficulty through 
the influence of motives, some merely self-interested and 
narrow, others the noblest that can belong to humanity, but 
which nevertheless unite in promoting beneficial results, wide 
as the world. 



Coventry: October 1863. 



CONTENTS. 



PAET I. 

PAGE 

GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE . . 1 

PAET II. 

THE BRITISH ISLES. # 

CHAP. 

I. First Facts of British Geography : Latitude — Climate 

— Longitude — Size — Position .... 36-40 
II. Physical Geography of the British Isles : Geological 
Character — Minerals — Nature of the Surface — 

Vegetation — Animals 41-73 

III. Geography of the Adjacent Islands .... 74-87 
IV. Eaces of Men — Languages — Eeligious Beliefs . 88-113 
V. Political Divisions: Counties and County Govern- 
ment — Towns and Municipal Government — Ca- 
pital Towns — Ecclesiastical Centres — Educational 
Centres — Manufacturing Centres — Trading Ports 

— Naval Ports — Coast Towns — Spas . . 114-179 
» Internal Communication : Eoads — Eailways — Canals 

— Post— Telegraph 180-191 

VII. Constitution and Government — Eevenue — Coinage 

— Population 192-199 

PAET III. 

POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. 

I. Gibraltar . . . . . . .'".,. 200 

II. Malta and Gozo 206 

III. Heligoland 212 

IV. Ionian Islands 214 

a 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

PAET IV. 

POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

CHAP. PAGE 

I. India: Early History 217 

II. Natural Features of India 225 

III. Inhabitants of India : Languages — Keligion and 

Literature . 235-249 

IV. British Dominion in India „ 250-262 
V. Political Divisions of British India : Bengal — Bombay 

— Madras — Punjaub — North-West Provinces — 
Oude — Central Provinces — British Burmah — 

Native States 263-298 

VI. Government, &c. of British India . . . 299 

VII. Ceylon . . . . . . . ". . 302 

VIII. Eastern Straits Settlements : Labuan — Aden . . 314 

IX. Possessions in China: Hong-Kong and Kowtoon . 318 

PAET V. 

POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA ... 324 

I. West African Colonies: Gambia — Sierra Leone — 

Gold Coast — Lagos 327-339 

II. South African Colonies : Cape Colony — Natal — 

British Kaflraria 340-351 

III. St. Helena — Ascension — Mauritius — Seychelles . 352-358 

PART VI. 

POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. 

I. British North America 359-364 

II. Canada 365-393 

III. Nova Scotia — Cape Breton — Sable, Magdalen, Brion, 

and Bird Isles — New Brunswick — Prince Edward 

Island — Newfoundland — Bermudas . . . 394-417 

IV. Hudson Bay Territory: British Columbia — Van- 

couver Island 418-428 



CONTENTS. IX 

CHAP. PAGE 

V. West Indian Colonies : Jamaica, and the Caymanas — 
The Bahamas — Virgin Isles — Barbuda — St. 
Christopher's — Antigua — Montserrat — Dominica 
— Nevis — Angnilla — St. Vincent — Barbados — 
St. Lucia — Grenada — Tobago — Trinidad . . 429-468 
VI. Settlements in Central and South America : British 

Honduras — British Guiana — Falkland Isles . 469-477 



PAET VII. 

POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

I. Australia 478-486 

II. Australian Colonies : New South Wales — Victoria — 

South Australia — West Australia — Queensland 487-509 

III. Tasmania 510 

IV. New Zealand 517 

V. Islands in the Southern Seas : Norfolk, Chatham, and 

Auckland Isles — Lands of Victoria beyond the 

Polar Circles 529-535 



Index 537-552 



THE BKITISH EMPIEE. 



PART I. 
GEOWTH OF THE EMPIEE. 



An empire may extend itself either by conquest, by colonisa- 
tion, by annexation, or by treaty. Although it is by the first 
of these means, that of conquest, that Britain has gained many 
of her most important possessions, it cannot be said that the 
love of conquest for its own sake has made the nation great, 
and has caused our islands to become the centre of an empire, 
the largest, the most powerful, and, with the exception of the 
Chinese, the most populous on the face of the earth : it may 
rather be broadly stated, that the growth of the British 
Empire has been the natural consequence of the growth of 
the commercial spirit, and of the ever-increasing wants of 
an energetic people confined to a comparatively small island 
home. The love of adventure and the love of conquest and 
fresh acquisition for their own sake have doubtless had a 
powerful influence ; but the main impelling causes which have 
led to the building of our ships, and have urged our naviga- 
tors beyond seas, have been the increasing civilisation which 
has introduced more and more wants into the common life of 
the people, the increasing intelligence which has compassed 

B 



2 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

the means of satisfying those wants, and the increase of the 
population which has made the adoption of those means a 
necessity. Considering, therefore, the comparatively short 
period in the world's history since our forefathers emerged 
from barbarism, we should expect to find that our acquirement 
of foreign territory was of recent date ; and, accordingly, such is 
the case ; for the whole of that which constitutes the British 
possessions in the other quarters of the globe has been gained 
within the last 300 years. 

Our ancestors appear to have been remarkably deficient in 
the roving propensities which characterise contemporary bar- 
barous tribes in Europe. Probably the natural advantages 
of the island contributed to make the Englishman specially 
love his home, even in those early days. ' O fortunate 
Britannia ! ' exclaims Eumenius, the orator of Constantine the 
Great, ' thee hath nature deservedly enriched with the choicest 
blessings of heaven and earth. Thou neither feelest the ex- 
cessive colds of winter, nor the scorching heats of summer. 
The harvests reward thy labours with so vast an increase as 
to supply thy tables with bread, and thy cellars with liquor. 
Thy woods have no savage beasts ; no serpents harbour there 
to hurt the traveller. Innumerable are thy herds of cattle, 
and the flocks of sheep which feed thee plentifully, and clothe 
thee richly. And as to the comforts of life, the days are long, 
and no night passes without some glimpse of light. 7 It is no 
wonder that these natural advantages which made our native 
isle so attractive to its Roman conquerors, although accustomed 
to an Italian clime, should have led to constant invasion from 
tribes in its closer neighbourhood ; but it is nevertheless remark- 
able that although England was peopled by three races of sea- 
rovers and pirates^ Saxons, Danes, and Normans, who brought 
with them old maritime habits, and a thorough familiarity 
with the sea, no sooner had they gained a footing in the land 
than they abandoned once and for ever their seafaring pro- 
pensities, and the mere possession of the soil seemed to convert 
them into Englishmen, with their proverbial love of home and 
country, and jealousy of foreigners. So little was the art 




BEGINNINGS OF COMMERCE. 3 

of navigation cultivated by the Anglo-Saxons, that it is 
doubted whether until the time of Alfred they had constructed 
a single ship of war, or possessed any trading- vessels of their 
own. Foreign trading-vessels had sought our coasts from 
very remote ages, and the treasures of our tin mines had 
attracted hither the Phoenicians at least 1,000 years before 
the beginning of the present era ; but there is no dis- 
tinct record of foreign trade on the part of England herself 
until the close of the eighth century ; and the trading 
transactions then mentioned as being the subject mercial 
of a treaty between Charlemagne and OfFa, King rea y * 
of Mercia — the first commercial treaty on record — seem 
small and insignificant enough. Some English pilgrims tra- 
velling to Rome to visit the shrines of the apostles carried with 
them some articles of home manufacture, supposed to be works 
in gold and silver, and probably brought home in exchange 
commodities from the Continent. Other monks, apparently, 
followed their example, until so much of a trade was formed 
that Charlemagne found it expedient to stipulate by the above 
treaty that c whereas holy pilgrims bent on piety alone should 
be free to pass without paying toll, holy pilgrims bent on 
worldly profit should pay the established duties at the proper 
places/ The good fathers, however, found means of making 
their piety protect their profits^ by using their long cloaks to 
smuggle their goods under, and so avoided paying toll at 
the proper places; and the pilgrim's vocation forthwith came 
into much favour from this new and convenient use of the 
long cloak. 

The merit of being the first to build English ships is 
due to England's greatest monarch, Alfred the Great 
(a.d. 871), and by the time of King Athelstan, about merchant 
fifty years later, so much progress had been made sMps ' 
in navigation, and so much honour was attached to the mer- 
chants' trade, that it was enacted ■ that every merchant who 
should have made three voyages over the sea with a ship and 
cargo of his own, should have the rank of a thane or noble- 



4 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

man.' From this time a flourishing continental commerce 
appears to have been established, and the wool and metals, and, 
it is said also, the horses and slaves of Britain, began to be 
largely exchanged for the silks and skins, wines, oil, ivory, 
and gems of the south of Europe, and probably of the far 
East. 

About this period, England was becoming a united kingdom, 
and instead of being a cluster of separate states, 
of governed by a number of independent chieftains, as 

had been the case since the Saxon invasion, was ren- 
dered subject to one crown under the strong hand of Egbert, 
King of Wessex (a.d. 820), and was still more consolidated 
under the powerful rule of Alfred and Athelstan. The Danish 
supremacy of Canute and his successors was again a dis- 
turbing element, but under William of Normandy (1066) 
the kingdom of England was finally based upon a firm 
foundation. 

The advent of the Norman kings added the Duchy of Nor- 
Channei mandy to the English crown, including the Channel 
isles. Isles, which have never since been alienated, and 

are now the only portion remaining to us of the old Norman 
inheritance. 

Ireland was the first great acquisition of the English ; and 
its conquest by Henry II. in 1172 was rendered 

Conquest + J J 

of Ireland, easy from its state of disunion in consequence of 
the warfare between the monarch and provincial 
rulers, and the frequent invasions of Norwegians and Danes. 
Hebrides, ^ n ^%§& the Hebrides were ceded to Scotland by 
1266. the Norwegians. 

Wales had retained a kind of independence until the year 
Wales, 1283, when Edward I. annexed it as a principality 
1283. ' to England. 

In 1340 the Isle of Man was finally wrested from Scotland 
isle of hy the Earl of Shaftesbury, in the reign of Edward 

Man, 1340. jjj . ^ n g] an( j an( j Scotland having possessed the 
island by turns since it ceased to be governed by Norwegian 
kings in 1264. 



GROWTH OF FOREIGN TRADE. 5 

In 1468 the Orkney and Shetland Isles were given by Chris- 
tian L, King of Denmark, to James III. of Scotland, 
as a pledge for the payment of 50,000 florins, the a ^a eys 
dowry of his daughter Margaret ; but as the money ^gg lands ' 
was never paid, the islands have belonged to Scotland 
ever since. 

The advent of the Norman kings, which had brought an 
accession of French territory to the crown of England, brought 
also, unfortunately, a disputed claim to the French throne, 
which involved the two countries in a long and disastrous 
struggle directly adverse to the growing spirit of commerce. 
Meanwhile, however, the commercial spirit was receiving 
indirectly a new impetus by means of the Crusades ; and it is 
singular that the religious zeal, which, it would seem, through 
the trading speculations of the long-cloaked monks, had opened 
for us the path to continental trade, now again opened for us 
the path to the much richer treasures of the East. Through 
the intercourse between the Crusaders and the Turks and 
Saracens, the products of the East Indies were more exten- 
sively made known to the Northern Christians than they had 
ever been before, and their eagerness to obtain these new lux- 
uries soon encouraged Venetian vessels to make their appear- 
ance in the English Channel, bearing the spices, balms, and 
silks of India to our shores : in later days, the intense desire 
of the English to possess themselves of these treasures without 
the intervention of the merchants of the Mediterranean, led 
to that indomitable spirit of enterprise which was rewarded at 
last by the discovery of the south-east passage to India, and 
thence to our vast dominions there. 

The English claim to a portion of France through our 
Norman sovereigns lasted for nearly 500 years, and attained 
its maximum after the victories of Henry V., when more than 
half the area of modern France belonged to England : but 
after the siege of Orleans in 1428, we were forced step by step 
to relinquish our hold until the last remnant of our tenure on 
the continent was torn from us at the siege of Calais in 1558 ; 
and the British dominions were then limited to Great Britain 



6 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

and Ireland, t and the Channel Isles. But the path had been 

. already opened to new worlds. The ardent desire 

discovered, of the nations of Western Europe to reach and 

1492. . 

possess the treasures of India by some other way 
than the tedious and expensive overland routes which had 
been monopolised by the Turks, Greeks, and Italian mer- 
chants, had already urged forth into unknown seas such bold 
adventurers as Columbus, Bartolomeo Diaz, and De Gama, 
and at last excited a true maritime spirit in the more tardy 
English, to whom the credit belongs of following vigorously in 
the wake of others, rather than of being first discoverers and 
colonisers. Christopher Columbus paved the way for future 
discovery, not only by his own success in finding the new world 
of America in 1492, but by being the first to bring into prac- 
tical use the mariner's compass, an invention which had been 
introduced from the East, in 1229. Before this magical little 
needle was made to serve as a guide to the mariner, his 
method of traversing unknown seas was to keep within sight 
of shore, steering from headland to headland, and taking ad- 
vantage occasionally of a regular trade wind, the direction of 
which was known, in order to make a launch across the 
ocean ; and, considering the uncertainty of this kind of navi- 
gation, it is not surprising that little progress was made in the 
discovery of new lands. But no sooner was the trustworthi- 
ness of the compass fairly proved, than adventurers were 
found crossing the seas in all directions, with India for their 
bait and goal, and the rich success of Columbus for their 
encouragement. 

The object of Columbus had been to find a south-west 
South-east passage to the Indies ; this he failed to do, but he 
india ge t0 trace( i its direction, and became aware of the great 
1498. barrier of land, the continent of South America, 

which lay between. Six years before, Bartolomeo Diaz, a 
Portuguese, while cruising along the west coast of Africa, for 
the object principally of i finding out, if possible, the land where 
those spices came from which the Venetians sold,' accidentally 
discovered the south-east passage, and doubled the Cape of 



PROGEESS OF DISCOVERY : SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 7 

Good Hope unawares, by being driven round it during a 
storm ; the line of coast, which before the storm he had 
perceived on his left hand, having changed its direction 
when the storm abated. Afterwards another Portuguese, 
Vasco de Gama, followed in his track, and effected the 
first landing of the Portuguese in India, in 1498. 
That same year a Venetian, John Cabot, obtained J^^ ^" 
a grant from Henry VII. of England to make voy- 
ages of discovery in his name, to which Henry was liberal 
enough to agree, on condition that Cabot should bear all the 
risk and expense, and he, Henry, should have a fifth of 
the profit. Profits there were none to satisfy the niggardly 
king, but Cabot immortalised his expedition by the discovery 
of Newfoundland and the west coast of America. In 1517, 
his son, Sebastian Cabot, attempted, under Henry VIII., 
to find a north-west passage to India, on the supposition 
that the northern extremity of America formed a headland 
with an open sea beyond. Of course he failed; but thirty 
years afterwards Edward VI. made this same Sebastian Cabot 
governor of a company to discover a north-east passage ; and 
this was attempted in 1553, under the direction of Sir Hugh 
Willoughby, who is the first native Englishman who appears 
as a competitor in this field of enterprise. This north-east 
scheme was planned and supported by London merchants, 
described as ' men of great wisdom and gravity ; ' but their 
wisdom proved not sufficient to foresee the impracticable 
nature of the undertaking, and Sir Hugh Willoughby and his 
companions, after penetrating beyond Nova Zembla into the 
Arctic Ocean, perished miserably on the coast of Lapland. 
Through this voyage Russia, or Muscovy, first became known 
to England, and Queen Mary chartered a Eussian company, 
the agents of which made their way down the Volga to 
Astrakan and Bokhara, and other cities of the East.* 

Notwithstanding this unfortunate beginning, both English 
and Dutch persevered in their attempts to find the north-east 

* Hughes's Geography of British History. 



8 GROWTH OF THE EMHKE. 

passage, and were encouraged to do so by the mistaken notion 
of the great cosmographer, ^Gerard Mercator, who believed 
that the north-eastern extremity of Asia formed a headland 
only a little beyond the point that navigators had already 
reached, and having rounded which they could steer direct 
south for Japan and China. After many failures, the north- 
east scheme was finally abandoned, and there then remained 
but two possible oceanic routes, the one round South America 
to the west, and the other round Africa to the east; which 
last had already become the beaten track of the Portuguese. 

In 1519, the south-west passage was also discovered by the 
South-west P° rtu g ues e- Fernando de Magellan, under the 
passage, patronage of Charles V., fitted out an expedition with 
the idea of reaching the Moluccas, where the finest 
spices grew, by sailing west. He succeeded in passing through 
the strait, which afterwards bore his name, entered the Pacific, 
and arrived at the Philippine Islands ; but here he died, and 
left to the commander of the vessel who succeeded him the 
glory of returning home by the Cape of Good Hope, and of 
thus being the first to accomplish the feat of sailing round 
the globe. In 1577, Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the 
globe by the same route in a cruising expedition, undertaken, 
with the connivance of Elizabeth, for the sake of intercepting 
and pillaging the Spanish vessels on their return home laden 
with Indian produce, and Sir Thomas Cavendish in 1586 per- 
formed the same achievement ; thus proving the practicability 
of the passage, and by the rich plunder they brought home 
from Spanish and Portuguese ships, inflaming still more the 
desire of the English to obtain their balms and spices, silks 
and precious stones, at first hand. 

For many hundred years past the English had been depend- 
ent for the products of India upon the Genoese, Venetians, and 
other merchants of the Mediterranean, who obtained them 
from the Turks, and in Elizabeth's time, the cargo of a single 
Venetian vessel was sufficient to supply all England for a 
twelvemonth : a fact less to be wondered at when it is con si- 



FIRST INTERCOURSE BETWEEN ENGLAND AND INDIA. 9 

dered that the population of England and Wales was at that 
time about five millions, only about two-fifths more than 
that of London at the present day. But Elizabeth had the 
good sense to enter into a commercial treaty herself with the 
Turks, and so to obtain Indian goods for her subjects on more 
advantageous terms. To carry on this trade with Turkey, she 
granted, in 1581, a charter to a society of merchants called 
the Levant Company, who became active agents, not only for 
supplying England with Indian produce, but also for gaining 
information relative to the overland route and traffic ; two of 
its merchants, Fitch and Newbury, having actually visited 
India by the way of the Persian Gulf. Soon, however, there 
were symptoms of the Turkish trade declining, on account 
of the increasing commerce carried on by Portuguese and 
Spaniards by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and Elizabeth 
saw that, to be even with her neighbours, she too must open 
communication with India by the same route. Already she 
had entered into correspondence with the Great Mogul, and 
had sent a letter to the Emperor Akbar by one Leedes, a tra- 
veller, who made his way to the court at Delhi, and accepted 
service under the Mahommedan prince ; and this letter of 
Queen Elizabeth's was the first official communication between 
England and India. No sooner, however, had her intention 
of following in the sea-track of the Portuguese been made 
public than the Portuguese raised a violent opposition, claim- 
ing for themselves, as first comers, sole right to traffic in that 
direction. Elizabeth made reply ' that the sea and air are 
common to all men,' and, regardless of their complaints, sent 
out in 1582 an expedition to the East Indies under the com- 
mand of Mr. Edward Fenton, with these excellent instructions : 
' We do straightly enjoin you that neither going, tarrying 
abroad, nor returning, you doe spoyle or take anything from 
any of the queen's majestie's friends or allies, or any Christians, 
without paying justly for the same ; nor that you use any 
manner of violence or force against any such, except in your 
owne defence if you shall be set upon, or otherwise be forced 



10 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

for your owne safeguard to do it.' Fenton proved unequal to 
his task, and instead of doubling the Cape of Good Hope, 
floundered about in the Straits of Magellan, and, fearing an 
encounter with the Spaniards, returned home without any 
success. In 1591, a second expedition of three ships was sent 
out, but the scurvy attacked the crews; and one of the ships was 
sent home with the sick, while another was lost in a hurricane, 
so that only one, under James Lancaster, proceeded on the 
voyage. He succeeded in doubling Cape Comorin, the south 
point of India, and visited the Nicobar Isles, Sumatra, and 
the Straits of Malacca ; but unmindful of the instructions of 
Elizabeth, Lancaster made no effort towards lawful traffic, but 
established himself as a pirate and plunderer in the Indian 
Archipelago, cruising about or lying in wait to capture and spoil 
the richly-laden trading vessels from the peninsula, whether 
Portuguese or native. These buccaneering practices caused the 
English to be so hated and feared that Lancaster soon found 
it dangerous to stay in those seas, and no doubt they prepared 
the way for the opposition and difficulty experienced by the 
English in effecting a first settlement in India. In 1595, the 
Dutch entered upon the field, and conducted their first expedi- 
tion to India with an honesty and prudence which made them 
far more successful than the English. They introduced them- 
selves to the Portuguese and natives as peaceful and regular 
traders, and acted as such, and accordingly soon succeeded in 
establishing a Dutch East Indian trade. Their good fortune 
seems to have stimulated the English to try again, since in 
1599 an association of London merchants presented a petition 
to the queen, in which it was stated that ' divers merchants 
induced by the successe of the viage performed by the Duche 
nacion, and being informed that the Dutchemen prepare for a 
new viage, and to that ende have bough te divers ships here in 
Englande, were stirred with noe lesse affecion to advaunce the 
trade of their native countrie than the Duche merchaunts 
were to benefit their commonwealthe, and upon that affecion 
have resolved to make a viage to the East Indies,' and pray, 
therefore, to be incorporated into a Company, i for that the 



FIRST SETTLEMENT IN THE EAST. 11 

trade of the Indies being so remote, conld not be traded on 
but on a jointe and united stocke.' * 

After some delay occasioned by the fear of giving offence 
to Spain, Queen Elizabeth yielded her consent, and 
on the last day of the sixteenth century, December Company, 
31st, 1599, the English East India Company re- 
ceived its charter, by which they were empowered to traffic 
with ' all the islands, ports, havens, cities, creeks, towns, and 
places of Asia, Africa, and America, or any of them beyond 
the Cape of Bono Esperanza to the Streights of Magellan, 
where any trade or traffic of merchandize maybe used or had,' 
provided that such places were not in lawful possession of any 
other Christian prince or state, at the time being in league and 
amity with the British Crown, who were not willing to ' accept 
of such trade.' 

The following year the Company started four ships on their 
own account, appointing Lancaster as one of the Bantam 
commanders. As might be expected from this choice, 1601 - 
their first exploit was little creditable, being the plunder of a 
Portuguese vessel on the coast of Guinea ; and although on 
their arrival at the East India islands they met with a most 
friendly reception from the native princes, the opposition and 
hostility of the Portuguese settlers were increased to the ut- 
most degree by Lancaster taking to his old trade of pillage 
amongst their merchant-vessels. Nevertheless, this first voy- 
age was a success, and the English established their two first 
factories in the East, at Bantam in Sumatra, for the pepper trade. 

Succeeding voyages were still more fortunate, and in 1611 
the Company obtained permission from the Great gurat &c 
Mogul to plant their first factories f on the continent 16n - 
of India itself, at Surat, Ohmedabad, Cambaya, and Goza. 

* The meaning of company was, that the members of it alone had 
a right to the traffic of the prescribed territories, to the exclusion of all 
other traders, upon payment of certain money to the crown. 

f The word factory, applied in its original meaning to these East 
Indian establishments, signified a community of merchants or factors 
who had settled in a foreign country and bound themselves by certain 
regulations for mutual protection and defence. 



12 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

Such was the first and small germ of our dominion in India, 
which has since grown to such amazing proportions. 

Our first African colonies were planted on the coast of 
Gambia Guinea, in the reign of James I. ; a Company hav- 
1615. j n g "been chartered by Elizabeth for obtaining the 

tropical produce in the neighbourhood of the Gambia river. 

In 1641, the East India Company established their first 
Madras, factory on the east coast of India at Madras, and built 
1641. F or t gfc # George for its defence. 

The island of St. Helena fell into the possession of the East 
St. Helena, India Company in 1651 ; the Dutch, who had pre- 
1651. viously held it, having abandoned it and taken up 

their quarters at the Cape of Good Hope instead. 

The island of Bombay, which had been in the possession of 
Bombay, tne Portuguese, was ceded to Charles II. on his 
1668 - marriage with the Infanta, Catharine of Braganza, in 

1661, as part of her dowry. In 1668, Charles transferred the 
island to the Company in exchange for an annual rental, and 
Bombay thence became the chief English trading settlement 
on the west coast. 

In 1652, the English had planted a factory at the town of 
Calcutta H°°ghry> in Bengal, and in 1698 removed it to a 
1698. small village on the bank of the Hooghly river, called 

Calicotta or Kallighattee, where they were permitted to buy a 
small piece of land, which became the site of the future capital 
of Calcutta, and where they erected fortifications named Fort 
William, after the reigning king, "William III. 

By the end of the seventeenth century, an event had occurred 
which was of no small importance in the progress of the 
empire. A new luxury had been introduced into English 
homes, and the way prepared for an enormous traffic which 
affords one of the most remarkable illustrations of commercial 
enterprise. Pepys writes in his * Diary,' Sept. 25, 1661, 'I 
sent for a cup of tea (a Chinese drink), of which I have never 
drank before ; ' and at that time tea appears to have been 
brought to London in small quantities from Amsterdam, 
through the Dutch East India Company. In 1664, the 



SETTLEMENT IN THE WEST. 13 

English Company procured, with much difficulty, from Ban- 
tam, as a present for Charles II. , as large a quantity as two 
pounds two ounces, for which they paid 405. ; and in 1667, 
the first public order for its purchase was given, and the 
Bantam agent was ' desired to send home 100 pounds of the 
best tey that you can gett.' Queen Elizabeth had made a first 
attempt to open a direct trade with China, by sending out, in 
1596, three ships with letters from herself; but the vessels 
were wrecked, and no commercial footing was gained in China 
until the Company, by slow degrees, established trade at the 
ports of Amoy and Ningpo, and the islands of Chusan and 
Formosa, and finally at Canton. In 1678, the Company 
imported 4,713 pounds of tea, and the leaf then first began to 
be an important branch of their trade. The quantity now 
imported, chiefly from China, is 70,000,000 pounds annually. 

The beginning of the seventeenth century, which saw the 
first growth of our empire in the East, was made memorable 
at home by the union of England and Scotland under one 
crown, through the accession of James L, in 1603. 

It is in the reign of James I. that the first traces begin to be 
visible of our empire in the West, and England's first mark 
upon the Western hemisphere, of which we have any record, 
was a rude cross of wood in the island of Barbadoes, Barbadoes, 
driven into the soil by some English sailors belonging 16 ° 0, 
to a merchant-vessel, who touched upon the then bare and 
uninhabited island on their way from Guinea, in 1605, and 
who took possession of it in the name of the king by planting 
this impromptu standard, and by carving upon the bark of a 
tree — t James, king of England, and of this island.' 

In the preceding reign, in 1584, Sir Walter Ealeigh had 
sent out, at his own expense, two small ships to explore the 
coast of America, and thus discovered the land that lay 
between the Spanish settlement of Florida (so called because 
it was discovered on Pasqua Florida, Palm Sunday) and the 
district afterwards called North Carolina. This newly-found 
land Queen Elizabeth named Virginia, in commemoration of 



14 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

herself. Kaleigh failed in his attempt to colonise this region, 
although he left a few settlers — the first English settlers in 
America — in the isle of Eoanoke ; who, however, left it two 
years afterwards in Sir Francis Drake's ship. The reported 
excellence of the soil and climate of Virginia induced James L, 
in 1606, to authorise two companies, the London Adventurers, 
and the Plymouth and Bristol Adventurers, to plant all the 
American coast included between the 34th and 45th degrees 
of north latitude, and subsequently these two companies were 
united under the name of ' The Adventurers and Planters of 
the City of London for the first colony of Virginia ;' the whole 
of the territory being then divided into North and South 
Virginia. These Virginian plantations were thus the first of 
those English settlements which spread by degrees over the 
vast region that afterwards constituted the United States of 
America, and which, as they for the most part formed part of 
the British dominions until the year 1776, must be noticed in 
this sketch of the growth of the empire. 

The Virginian Company made but little progress with their 
Virginia, plantations until the government of the new province 
1607, was accepted by Lord Delaware ; whose son, toge- 

ther with Sir George Somers and a few other noblemen, built 
the first town in the New World, and called it James Town, 
after the reigning monarch. 

In 1612 the English made their first settlement in the 
Bermudas, Bermudas. These islands had been discovered about 
1612, twenty years before by Henry May, who had been 

wrecked on their coast, and Sir George Somers having also 
been wrecked upon them on his way to Virginia, gave his 
own name to the group, which was forthwith taken possession 
of by the Company. 

It was during the reign of James L, in 1619, that our 
American colonies were first used as convict settlements. The 
necessity for the transportation of criminals had been accumu- 
lating since the abolition of the monasteries in the time of 
Henry VIII. , when the want of all organised means for the 
relief of the poor, which those religious institutions had 



SETTLEMENT IN THE WEST. 15 

formerly supplied, caused an immense increase of the criminal 
and vagabond classes. The first law for the punishment of 
criminals by banishment was passed in Elizabeth's reign, but 
no place was specified. 

In 1620 there arrived from England into the unoccupied 
and unplanted region north of the Virginian settle- New 
ments that noble band of Puritans, called the Pil- England, 
grim Fathers, who fled from the persecutions of Arch- 
bishop Laud to a free soil where they might worship in peace 
according to their consciences-. These 150 brethren purchased 
the land belonging to the Plymouth Company, and their little 
colony was continually reinforced by exiles who joined them 
from England. In ten years they had built five towns, and 
their territory gradually included the northern States which 
constitute New England, viz. Vermont, New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and Connecticut. 

In 1621 Nova Scotia was colonised by English planters. 
The first grant of land in it was made by James I. 
to his Scotch secretary, Sir William Alexander, who Scotia, 
gave it the name of New Scotland, or Nova Scotia. 
This region included the district afterwards called New 
Brunswick. 

In 1623 a settlement was first made on Newfoundland by 
Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Baltimore, and Newfound- 
a few Roman Catholics. Since its discovery by land ' 1623, 
Cabot, in 1498, the island had been merely visited for the 
sake of its fishery, and had been formally attached to the 
Crown of England by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583. But 
the French settling upon it soon after the English, the island 
remained disputed territory until it was finally ceded to the 
English by the treaty of Utrecht. Within the next ten years 
the islands of Nevis, the Bahamas^ Antigua, Montserrat, and 
St. Christopher's were acquired. 

In 1632 another tract of land in the New World became a 
refuge for a religious party who had been subjected to perse- 
cution at home. Charles I., who, disregarding the charter 
given by his father to the Virginian Company, took upon 



16 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

himself to dispose of the lands included in the grant, bestowed 
Maryland, a large territory upon Lord Baltimore, calling it 
1632, Maryland, after his queen Henrietta Maria; and 

accordingly Lord Baltimore took out with him to his new 
possession 200 papist families, and, having paid an easy price 
for the land to the native Indians, soon made of it a flourish- 
ing colony ; chiefly because his fair and honourable treatment 
of the natives gained their good-will and co-operation. 

In 1655 our most valuable possession in the West Indies, the 
Jamaica, island of Jamaica, was taken from the Spaniards by 
3655 * a squadron of Oliver Cromwell, commanded by 

Admiral Penn, father of the celebrated William Penn, founder 
of Pennsylvania. 

In 1662 the Earl of Clarendon and seven other noblemen 
Carolina, obtained from Charles II. a grant of all the land 
1662 ' lying between 31° and 36° north latitude, which 

had been named Carolina by some Huguenot settlers in 
honour of Charles IX. of France. The land was parcelled 
out by these proprietors amongst all who were willing to 
emigrate with them, and it is said that they employed the 
great John Locke to compose a system of laws for the govern- 
ment of the colony. Charles Town was built by these 
settlers ; but in spite of their excellent code of laws, the 
affairs of the colony soon fell into total confusion, owing to the 
disputes between the Church of England men and the Dis- 
senters, and constant incursions from the Indians, whom they 
irritated by oppression and insolence ; and the colonists were 
soon glad to abandon the government of the settlement, and 
to place it under the protection of the Crown. This territory , 
was in after years called South Carolina, in consequence of 
another colony being placed under its government, and dis- 
tinguished from it by the name of North Carolina. 

In 1664 Charles II. bestowed upon his brother James a 
N w Y k l ar & e re gi° n which he had obtained by conquest 
New from the Dutch, who, together with the Swedes, 

Jersey . 

Delaware, had first colonised it, and named it New Nether- 
1664# lands. Part of this region was called New York, 



PKOGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 17 

after the Duke of York, to whom it was granted ; another 
part received the name of New Jersey from Sir George 
Cartaret who bought it of the Duke, and thus called it because 
he had already estates in Jersey ; another part retained its 
name of Delaware, which was derived from Lord Delaware, 
Governor of Virginia, who had first entered the bay in 1610. 

In 1670 a British settlement was made in Honduras, a 
tract of land in Central America ; and the same year Honduras 
the immense northern region of New Britain, com- 16 ' ' 
prising the countries lying around Hudson's Bay, viz. La- 
brador, New North and South Wales, was made a Hudson's 
grant of by Charles II. to a small company of nine Territories 
or ten persons, called the Hudson's Bay Company, 167 °* 
with exclusive right to trade in the furs and skins of the 
animals, such as beavers, otters, moose-deer, and seals, with 
which the land and coasts abounded. 

In consideration of Admiral Penn's services in the Jamaica 
enterprise, a grant of land in America was awarded to Pennsyi- 
his son by Charles II. in 1681, and accordingly Wil- vailia > 1681 - 
liam Penn, followed by numbers of his religious brethren of the 
Society of Friends, founded there the colony of Pennsylvania 
on the most enlightened principles of justice and benevolence ;• 
principles which respected the rights of the native Indians, 
and offered to Christians of all denominations an equal share 
of privileges. The name of the capital, Philadelphia, or 
brotherhood, which was built according to a plan of the 
founder, is a lasting memento of the rare and admirable 
policy under which this province became a flourishing State. 

At the beginning of the eighteenth century our affairs at 
home and abroad were not in so prosperous a condition as to 
favour the growth of the empire. The Revolution in England, 
which placed William, Prince of Orange, upon the throne, 
while it allied us with the Dutch, plunged us into a war with 
France, on account of the recognition by Louis XIV. of the 
claims of the Stuarts; and at the same time, our advocacy of 
the claim of the Austrian Archduke Charles to the throne of 

c 



18 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

Spain, in opposition to the reigning monarch, Philip V., grand- 
son of Louis, had also arrayed against us the arms of Spain. 
While, therefore, the Duke of Marlborough and his Austrian 
ally, Prince Eugene, were keeping in check the Bourbon power 
on the Continent', our great naval commanders, Sir Cloudesley 
Shovel, Sir George Tiooke, and i Old Benbow,' were occupied 
in defending our coasts and maintaining the preeminence of the 
British flag upon the neighbouring seas. It was during the 
operations of a Dutch arid English expedition to assist the Arch- 
duke Charles in his invasion of Spain, that Sir George Eooke 
Gibraltar, captured the rock of Gibraltar in 1704, which pos- 
session was confirmed to the English at the Peace of 
Utrecht, in 1713. 

As a counterbalance to the evils xyf war near home, our 
American plantations were now rapidly increasing in value 
and importance, and the trade with these dependencies and 
the West India Islands already employed about 500 ships. 
Before we had plantations of our own, we had depended upon 
Spain for the 'produce of America, and Portugal Supplied us 
with sugar ; but now the exports from England of provisions, 
apparel, and household furniture, were exchanged for immense 
annual shipments of tobacco, sugar, ginger, cotton, indigo, 
cocoa, furs, wood, pitch, &c, from the American colonies, 
together with fish from Newfoundland, sufficient not only for 
our own but for continental markets. Indeed, the extent to 
which one of these articles, namely, tobacco, was imported 
from King James's pet colony of Virginia, and the readiness 
with which his subjects learned the use of the weed,* so 
alarmed the sapient monarch, that, like the fisherman in the 
Arabian Nights, who removed unawares the stopper from the 
jar, and let out the monstrous smoky genie whom he found it 
impossible to shut up again, he tried in vain to prevent the 
cultivation and importation of the seductive plant, and to save 
his people from a practice which ' tended to a new and general 

* The practice of smoking was learned by the Spaniards bf the native 
Americans, and thus became introduced into Europe* 



PROGRESS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 19 

corruption of men's bodies and manners.' First, he issued his 
famous ' Counterblast to Tobacco,' in which he declares that 
1 persons of mean and base condition do spend most of their 
time and consume their wages in that idle vanity, and some 
gentlemen bestow upon it three or four hundred pounds 
a year;' next he laid heavy duties on the article itself, and 
tried to limit its production ; but the smoking and chewing 
continuing, James finally made the best of it by securing the 
benefit of the traffic to his own revenue, and forbidding the 
importation of the evil drug from anywhere but his own 
plantations* 

Another plant was now beginning to be grown in the 
American settlements for the home market, which was destined 
to play a much more important part in the history of the 
nation ; and the low sandy islands scattered along the coasts of 
South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida came to be the great 
cotton-garden of the world. Connected with the sugar pro- 
duce, another traffic, not so legitimate— the African slave-trade 
— which had first been made legal by Act of Parliament in 
1698, was now in the beginning of the next century flourishing 
only too well ; ' much to the benefit of the nation, and of our 
sugar colonies/ said a writer of the time. 

In consequence of the formal union by Act of Parliament of 
England and Scotland as one kingdom of Great TJnionof 
Britain, in the reign of Anne, 1707, Scotland, England 

. . and 

who had no colonies nor dependencies of her own, Scotland, 
was made a sharer in the benefits of our foreign ' ' 
trade as well as in the home trade with England ; and, writes 
Adam Anderson, the commercial chronicler of the day, i her 
coarse woollen stuffs and stockings, and her more valuable 
linen manufactures now of many various, beautiful, and 
ingenious kinds, have now a prodigious vent, not only in 
England, but for the American plantations;' 

But not only with regard to trade, but also for emigration, 
the New World was becoming of immense advantage to us, and 
both the destitute and the persecuted found a refuge beyond 
the Atlantic. In the year 1729, more than 6^000 persons, 

c2 



20 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

chiefly Irish, driven from their homes by scarcity and ' rack- 
rents,' emigrated to Pennsylvania ; and in 1732, a benevolent 
gentleman, General Oglethorpe, joined with some others to 
establish a new colony for the benefit of destitute debtors, and 
of foreign Protestants who sought a land of religious freedom. 
Georgia, This district they named Georgia, after the reigning 
1782, monarch, George II. 

To return to the East, the war with France, besides 
weakening our resources and leaving little to spend on com- 
mercial enterprise, laid open our colonies to the harassing 
attacks of the French, who thus became national enemies as 
well as rival settlers. On the Coromandel coast a fierce 
struggle arose between the French and English factories for 
supremacy in India, in which the* native chiefs joined for the 
sake of courting the favour of the Europeans to whom they 
were respectively attached ; while the Europeans in return 
took up the quarrels of the native states, and thus became 
partisans of rival princes, as well as foes on their own account. 
A general state of feud ensued, which, little favourable as it 
was to the merchant interest at the time, aroused and deve- 
loped the military spirit of the English, gave them a new 
prestige in the eyes of the natives, and ultimately, through 
the genius of a Clive, introduced a new era into the history of 
India, by transforming a trading society of 'Adventurers,' 
such as the East India Company had hitherto been, into 
conquerors and rulers of an empire. Hitherto the British 
settlements in India had been held subject to the native 
princes on payment of custom fees, and the only territory the 
English actually possessed was the island of Bombay, a small 
strip of coast at Madras, and in Bengal the ground on which | 
Calcutta stood, with ten miles of land below the town on both j 
sides of the river Hooghly ; which last possession had been . 
granted by charter in 1717 by a descendant of Aurungzebe, ] 
the last great Mogul ruler. But now, in 1744, arrived in « 
Madras, as a writer in the Civil Service, a poor sickly, ! 
gloomy- tempered youth, named Eobert Clive, who, up to his j 



EMPIRE IN THE EAST. 21 

present age of seventeen, had distinguished himself only as 
having been a boy full of mischief at school, refusing to learn 
with unusual pertinacity, sitting on a spout at the top of the 
tall spire of Market Drayton church, where no one else dared 
climb, and heading a rabble of vagabond boys, who were the 
terror and detestation of all the respectable tradespeople of the 
Shropshire village. This unpromising youth, who succeeded 
at first so ill in India, and was so wretched in himself that he 
twice attempted to take away his own life, was destined in 
after years to become the mainstay and hope of the British 
in India, to annihilate the power of the French, and to con- 
solidate our empire in the East. Eight years after he had 
gone out to India an obscure servant of the Company, he 
returned to England covered with laurels, a military hero who 
had captured Arcot, the capital of the Carnatic, dislodged the 
French, and established British supremacy in the Deccan. In 
1755 he returned to India as governor of Fort St. David, .near 
Madras, and lieutenant-colonel in the British army. The fol- 
lowing year Surajah Dowla, viceroy of Bengal, attacked the 
fort of Calcutta for the sake of possessing himself of the trea- 
sures which he imagined to be concealed in the factory, and 
took captive a number of English who had been deserted by 
their governor and commander-in-chief. Then followed the 
hideous tragedy of the Black Hole of Calcutta; for the 
Surajah, in hopes of extorting information concerning the 
treasures, shut up the whole of his 146 prisoners in a room 
eighteen feet square, and in the course of that summer night all 
but twenty-three perished of suffocation. The avenger, how- 
ever, was at hand. No sooner had tidings of this deed 
reached Clive at Madras than he mustered his forces and set 
off north-eastward with the determination of deposing the 
viceroy and humbling his allies, the French. In this expedi- 
tion he was joined by a young man of twenty, named Warren 
Hastings, the son of a poor clergyman in Worcestershire, who 
had, like Clive, come out as a writer for the Company. The 
armies met at Plassey, Clive's army being 3,200 strong, and 
the viceroy's 68,000, and on June 23, 1757, Clive gained a 



22 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

decisive victory, which proved to be in effect the conquest 
c of Bengal ; Surajah Dowla fled, and was shortly 

Bengal, afterwards murdered by the nabob whom Clive 

1757 . . 

appointed in his place, and the north-east of Hin- 
dostan became from that time subject to the English. 

While hostilities between the French and English were 
leading to the extension of our empire in India, disputes 
between the rival French and English settlers in the northern 
States of America resulted in an immense addition to our 
territory in the New World. The region of Canada had 
belonged exclusively to the French since their first settlement 
there in 1608, and the vicinity of this territory to the English 
plantations led to such perpetual encroachments and jealousies, 
that at last government took up the quarrel, and war was 
Canada, declared. Quebec, the chief town in Canada, and 
176 °* the strongest fortress in America, fell before the 

assault of General Wolfe, and Canada became ours in 1760. 
In the course of the war, Prince Edward's Island, in the Gulf 
prince of St. Lawrence, had been taken from the French, 

mlX'L and was formall y ceded to the English in 1763. 
1763. This island had been discovered by Cabot in 1497, 

on St. John's Day, and was therefore at first called St. John's 
Island ; but it received its present name in 1799, in honour of 
her present Majesty's father, Edward, Duke of Kent. The 
same year of 1763 the islands of St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, 
and Dominica were added to our possessions. 

Sixteen years after the conquest of Canada, the old American 
colonies were lost to the British crown; and on June 4, 1776, 
the Declaration of Independence was signed by the representa- 
tives of the thirteen States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Ehode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, by which 
these States withdrew from their allegiance to Great Britain, 
and constituted themselves the free and independent United 
States of America. 

As a counterbalance to this loss, British dominion was fast 



EMPIEE IN THE EAST. 23 

extending in the East. In India, after the retirement of Lord 
Clive, in 1772, Warren Hastings was appointed the first 
Governor -General of Bengal, and during his administration 
strengthened and consolidated the empire that Clive had 
originated. In 1775 the Benares province in Allahabad was 
ceded to the Company by the Yizier of Oude in Benares, 
return for aid rendered him against the chief of the m5m 
Eohillas ; but the most notable events during the government 
of Mr. Hastings were the expulsion of the French from their 
presidency of Pondicherry and remaining settlements, and the 
subjugation of the usurping Moslem ruler of the Mysore, 
Hyder Ali ; who, although at one time an ally of the English, 
had become their most formidable and troublesome enemy, 
in consequence of their having broken faith with him, and 
refused him the military aid which they had promised. A 
long struggle between this prince and his French supporters 
on the one side, and Warren Hastings with his British troops 
and Bengal sepoys on the other, at last terminated fortunately 
for the English by the death of Hyder Ali and the G-untoor 
retreat of his son Tippoo Saib ; and the actual ^ cars 
additions to the territories of the Company were 1778 - 
Guntoor and the Circars in Southern India. 

In 1786, the East India Company purchased, for the sake of 
its excellent harbour, the island of Pulo-Penang on Penang 
the Malay Peninsula. It was in the possession of 1786 - 
an Englishman, Captain Lighte, who had married the daughter 
of the King of Keddah, and received the island as a marriage- 
portion. The island afterwards became important as the seat 
of British government in the Malaccas. 

And now fresh regions were about to open before us, and 
those mysterious unexplored lands on the opposite side of the 
globe — the Terra Australis of the old navigators — were soon 
to be closely linked with our island, and peopled by our coun- 
trymen, across a distance of 15,000 miles. The year 1770 is 
memorable as being that in which Captain Cook first planted 
the British flag upon this largest island in the w^orld, or rather 



24 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE, 

the fifth great division of land on the globe — the New Holland 
of its first discoverers, the Dutch — the Australia of the pre- 
sent day ; and took possession of the eastern coast 
Wales, in the name of the king, George III., calling it New 
South Wales. The spot on which Captain Cook first 
landed so abounded with new species of wild flowers that he 
named it Botany Bay, and sailing a little farther northwards 
he passed by a small port, which he named Port Jackson, 
after the sailor who was on the look-out at the time, and first 
noticed it. Seventeen years afterwards the spot was selected 
as a suitable one for a penal settlement, since, by the separation 
of the United States, the American plantations had been lost 
as a place of transportation for English convicts ; and accord- 
ingly, in 1787, Captain Arthur Phillip, first governor of New 
South Wales, took out with him 800 convicts, who, from being 
the refuse of our gaols and worse than useless at home, be- 
came in that new land, under compulsion and necessity, culti- 
vators of the stubborn soil, and clearers of the thick untrodden 
forest, and thus prepared the way for the future prosperous 
settlement of Sydney, which has now superseded the old 
penal colony. The following year a first detachment of con- 
t victs from Port Jackson was sent by Governor Phil- 
isiand, lip to Norfolk Island, an uninhabited island about 
500 miles east of Australia, in the South Pacific 
Ocean, discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. This island 
became the severest penal colony of Great Britain. 

In 1787, an interesting experiment at colonisation was made 
Sierra on the west coast of Africa, by a society of London 

1787. ' philanthropists, who wished to prove that colonial 

produce could be obtained without slave labour, and who se- 
lected the Cape of Sierra Leone for their benevolent enterprise. 

In 1797, the island of Trinidad, off the north coast of 
Trinidad South America, was taken by the English from the 
1797 - Spaniards, who had colonised it ten years after its 

discovery by Columbus in 1498. 

In India, Lord Cornwallis had succeeded Warren Hastings 
as Governor- General in 1786, and under his administration 



PROGKESS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 25 

Tippoo Saib was subdued, and nearly half of his dominions in 
the Mysore ceded to the British. Lord Wellesley, who became 
Governor- General in 1799, completed the conquest Mysore> 
in the Mysore that Lord Corn wa] lis had begun, by 1799 - 
the capture of the chief town, the fortress of Seringapatam. 
During the siege, Tippoo, or the ' Tiger,' was killed, and in 
this action a young colonel distinguished himself as commander 
of a native troop, namely, Arthur Wellesley, brother of the 
Governor-General, and the future Duke of Wellington. 

The first acquisition of this nineteenth century was the 
island of Malta. On his way to Egypt, Buonaparte Malta> 
had seized the place and left it under guard of a 18u0 - 
French garrison ; but the Maltese solicited the aid of Lord 
Nelson and the Neapolitans to release them from the French 
yoke, and the garrison surrendered to the British troops in 
1800. Possession of the island, together with the adjacent rock 
of Gozo, was confirmed to us at the Peace of Paris, 1814. 

In 1803, the first British settlement was made in Van Die- 
men's Land, or Tasmania. The island was dis- Tasman i a 
covered, in 1642, by Abel Janssen Tasman, a 1803 - 
Dutchman, who was employed by Anthony Yan Diemen, go- 
vernor of the Dutch East India Company, to ascertain the 
extent of the Australian continent, and it was supposed to form 
part of the mainland until 1798, when Mr. Bass, a ship sur- 
geon, and Lieutenant Flinders, discovered its insularity, and 
reported so favourably of the climate and produce that the 
Governor of New South Wales determined to draft off there 
some of the convicts from Sydney Cove, where provisions were 
scarce. Accordingly, Lieutenant Bowen, with a guard of sol- 
diers, conveyed a band of convicts to the south-east coast, in 
1803, and the following year a penal colony was established at 
Hobart Town ; so named in honour of Lord Ilobart, Secretary 
of State for the Colonies. 

In the same year, the small island of St. Lucia, one of the 
Caribbean group in the West Indies, was finally taken gt Lucia 
from the French, after the possession of it had been 1803 - 



26 GBOWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

disputed between French and English for more than a century 

and a half; and also in this year the English obtained permanent 

B iti h possession of their only settlement in South America, 

Guiana, viz. the Dutch colonies of Demerara, Berbice, and 
Essequibo in Guiana. 

With regard to India, the opening century found the Eng- 
lish in the midst of warfare with the Mahrattas, a wild and 
predatory race of uncertain origin, who had risen into import- 
ance from having received a grant of land in the Carnatic 
from the Eajah of Bejapore, and who disturbed the peace of 
Central India by the constant feuds they originated. These 
Mahratta chiefs were by turns the allies of French and English, 
or the foes of either, as best served their purpose, and at this 
time they were in league with the French, and their regiments 
were commanded by French officers. After a severe struggle, 
the war with these tribes was brought to a favourable termi- 
nation, owing to the political sagacity of the Marquis Wellesley 
Delhi &c. an ^ the generalship of Sir Arthur Wellesley, and the 
1803. whole region was conquered from the Ganges to the 

Jumna, including the ancient imperial city of Delhi, the seat of 
the Mogul sovereigns; who henceforth became subject to, and 
under the protection of, the British, under the title of kings of 
Delhi. Besides this territory in the north, Cuttack, Juggernaut, 
Balasore in Southern India, and several Mahratta districts, 
were acquired between the years 1803 and 1805. 

In 1806, the Cape of Good Hope was taken by the English 
Cape of from the Dutch, who had first colonised it and founded 
1806. ° Pe the capital, Cape Town, about the year 1640. 

In 1807 the English took from the Danes the rock of Heli- 
1807. goland at the mouth of the Elbe, and during the 
continental war, when Buonaparte attempted to exclude 
British goods from the continent, it became serviceable to 
England as a depot for merchandise. It is now useful to us as 
a naval station, and summer bathing-place. 

The Dutch had made a settlement in the Indian Ocean 
Mauritius, upon an island which they named Mauritius, after 
1810 ' Maurice, the stadtholder of the Netherlands. This 



AUSTRALIAN SETTLEMENT. 27 

island fell into the hands of the French in 1715, and was taken 
from them by the English in 1810. 

In 1810, the Ionian Islands, which had been in possession 
of the French, were taken by the English, with the Ionian 
exception of Corfu, which was afterwards ceded to sles ' 
ns at the Peace of Paris, 1814. 

In 1815, the British took possession of the island of Ceylon, 
at the invitation of the Candian chiefs, who were Ceylon, 
suffering under the intolerable tyranny of their 181 °' 
native king. A portion of the coast, Trineomalee, had already 
belonged to the English, having been taken by them from the 
Dutch in 1795. 

In 1819, the British made a settlement upon the island of 
Singapore, which lies to the south of the Malay Singapore, 
Peninsula, and was part of the kingdom of Jahore, 1 ' 
and in 1824 they purchased the sovereignty of the whole 
island, and placed it under the provincial government at 
Penang. 

In 1824, the town and fort of Malacca were ceded to the 
British by a treaty between the Governments of Malacca, 
Britain and the Netherlands. 1824, 

After a long contest with the Burmese King of Ava, the East 
India Company acquired, in 1827, the country of , 

# r J * 1 7 J Aracanand 

Aracan, lying on the eastern shore of the Bay of Tenasse- 
Bengal, and the Tenasserim Provinces, which form 
part of the peninsula without the Ganges, and lie on the east 
side of the Gulf of Martaban. 

Early in the year 1829, the British flag was planted on the 
western coast of Australia, near the entrance of w . 

7 • Western 

Swan River, so called from the number of black Australia, 
swans seen there by its Dutch discoverer, Ylaming, 
and possession was taken in the name of King George IV. 
The spot being judged a favourable one for settlement by the 
first governor of the territory, Captain Stirling, numbers of 
emigrants were induced to go out, tempted by the offer of 
fertile land to be had in an excellent climate for little or 
nothing but the cost of cultivating it. The dreadful sufferings 



28 GROWTH OP THE EMPIRE. 

of those Swan Kiver settlers, landing with their wives and 
children on a coast inhabited only by savages, with not a hut 
to shelter them, or any means of subsistence provided, have 
caused the Swan Eiver settlement to be remembered as one 
of the most unfortunate attempts at colonisation on record.. 
The colony, however, worked through its difficulties, and the 
map of Western Australia will show how rapidly since then 
the tide of British emigration has flowed over the surrounding 
districts. A few years after the settlement of the Swan River 
colony, attention was turned to the south of Australia, which 
had been officially pronounced as i barren and useless for 
colonisation.' A three years' drought in the neighbourhood 
' of Sydney led the settlers there to consider whether the land 
exposed to the south winds of the Pacific might not be better 
supplied with rain than their own east coast, and several bold 
adventurers started on exploring expeditions, to ascertain the 
course of the streams and the nature of the country inland. 
One brave officer, Captain Sturt, starting from Sydney in 
1829, made his way across to Encounter Bay, navigating for 
nearly a thousand miles in a frail boat the then unknown 
stream of the Murray, exposed to bands of hostile savages on 
the banks, and his course obstructed and imperilled continually 
by rapids, sand-pits, and sunken trees ; but through the 
severest hardships and sufferings he completed the survey he 
had undertaken, and reported that his ' eye had never fallen on 
regions of more promising aspect.' In 1835, Sir Thomas 
Mitchell examined the country in the same direction, and 
found, between the river Murray and the sea, a ' fine, open, 

and well- watered district ; ' and upon this the colony 
PMiiip, of Port Phillip, or Victoria, was established. The 

evidence of Captain Sturt and others, as to the rich 
soil and fine pasture of these new regions, led in England to 
the formation of a South Australian Company, under whose 
direction ships were despatched in 1836, conveying a large 
body of settlers, and also the means for colonising and sur- 
veying the district ; and in the course of the same year, 
Adelaide, the capital of the province of South Australia, 



SETTLEMENT IN NEW ZEALAND. 29 

l| began to rise on the banks of the river Torrens, in a sheltered 
! spot about seven miles inland, the rich woods and gouth 
: luxuriant grass of which reminded the English Australia, 
I emigrants of the park scenery of their own country. 

In 1839, Aden, an Arabian seaport on the coast of the 
Indian Ocean, came into British possession. The Aden, 
Sultan Mahmud II. had promised the place to the 1889, 
English, in compensation for the plunder of one of their vessels, 
! which had been wrecked on the coast ; but upon his death, 
his son, Abdul Medjid, refusing to fulfil the compact, an 
English military force was forthwith despatched to the town, 
and captured it in January 1839. The place is chiefly useful 
to the English as a coal depot for Indian steamers. 

In 1840, Queen Victoria was formally recognised as sove- 
reign of New Zealand, in accordance with the L de- NewZea- 
liberate act and cession of the native chiefs.' The land ' 1840# 
island, originally discovered and named by Tasman, had been 
visited by Captain Cook in 1770, and taken possession of in 
the name of Great Britain ; and afterwards many settlers 
from New South Wales had frequented its shores, for the sake 
chiefly of the whale-fishery : but the first British settlement 
was formed by missionaries and their wives, who were sent 
out by the Church Missionary Society at the instance of the 
Eev. Mr. Marsden, a South Wales missionary, and of his 
friend and convert, Duaterra, a powerful New Zealand chief. 
This Duaterra, when young, had been, seized with an ardent 
desire to visit England and see King George, and had worked 
his way to the Thames in an English ship as a common sailor. 
The master of the vessel used him cruelly, and did not allow 
him even to land, and Mr. Marsden, happening to be at Spit- 
head, found the chief lying dangerously ill from ill-treatment 
and disappointment. The missionary befriended him, and 
took him back with him to Sydney ; and, in return, Duaterra 
befriended the missionaries, and enabled them to form a 
settlement in the Bay of Islands, on the east coast of New 
Zealand, in 1815. The missionaries, however, were much 
annoyed by the crews of the English, American, and French 



30 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

whalers who visited the coast, as well as by runaway convicts 
from Sydney and Van Diemen's Land ; and what they regarded 
more, the natives were molested in the most atrocious manner 
by these Europeans of the lowest class who thus infested the 
island ; they, therefore, induced thfe New Zealand chiefs to 
seek the protection of the King of England ; an additional 
motive for this step being the fear lest the French or any other 
foreign power should assume the sovereignty of the island. 
Accordingly, thirteen chiefs signed an address to the ' great 
chief on the other side of the water,' King William IV., 
praying him i to be angry with any of his own people who 
should be troublesome or vicious towards them,' and i to be the 
friend and guardian of our island, lest the teasing of other 
tribes come near to us, and lest strangers (alluding to the 
French) should come and take away our land.' The response 
to their petition was that a British Resident was appointed 
for the protection of the natives and the administration of 
justice, at the same time that the independence of the New 
Zealand chiefs was to be respected and preserved* In 1840, a 
confederation of chiefs, assembled in congress at Waitangi, 
yielded to the Queen of England absolute dominion over their 
territories, with the right of first purchase over any lands that 
they might wish to dispose of; in return for her royal protec- 
tion, the undisturbed possession of their estates, their forests, 
and their fisheries, and a participation in all the rights and 
privileges of British subjects. In the same year, a charter 
was granted for the erection of the Colony of New Zealand, 
and the principal islands of the group were declared to be 
henceforth designated as New Ulster, New Munster, and New 
Leinster. 

In 1842;, the Falkland Isles, a group in the South Atlantic, 
Falkland were first colonised by the British. The British flag 
isles, 1842. nac [ been first hoisted there by Commodore Byron in 
1764, and in 1842 a regular colony was formed thereby order 
of the Government. 

During the years 1842-43, our first and only possession was 
Hon gained in the Celestial Empire, and the island of 

kong, 1843. Hong-kohg or Victoria, long the seat of British trade 



PKOGRESS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 31 

with China, became ours by treaty after a series of hostilities 
connected with the opium trade. 

In 1843, the province of Sinde, in the north-west of India, 
was annexed to the territory of the East India Com- sinde 
pany. The province had been made a dependency 1843 - 
of the British by treaty with its princes, or Ameers, but the 
Ameers having broken some of its conditions, the subjugation 
of the province was intrusted to Sir Charles Napier, who 
accomplished it by the conquest of Hyderabad, the capital, in 
1843. 

In 1845, the colony of Natal, on the south-east coast of 
Africa, was established by the British Government. Natal 
The settlement owed its origin to some Dutch farm- 1843 - 
ers who had emigrated from the Cape in 1836, and who, after 
bravely defending their position against the treachery and 
attacks of the native Zulus, proclaimed themselves an inde- 
pendent republic. The British Government, however, refused 
to acknowledge their claim-, and troops were sent by Sir George 
Napier, the Governor of the Cape, who, after a hard contest, 
compelled the Dutch to surrender the place and submit to 
British rule. 

In 1846, the small island of Labuan, on the north-west 
coast of Borneo, was formally ceded to Britain by a L < abuan 
treaty with the Sultan of Borneo, obtained through the 1846 - 
influence of His Excellency James Brooke, Eajah of Sarawak. 
The island is valuable as possessing coal, and being important, 
therefore, to our steam- navigation in the eastern seas. 

In 1846, Vancouver's Island, lying off the west coast of 
North America, was ceded to England by the treaty vancou- 
of Oregon, which determined the boundary of the J^Ad- 
United States and British North America. The 1846 - 
island was first discovered in 1790, by Captain Vancouver, 
a midshipman of Captain Cook's. In 1849, the Government 
consigned the island to the Hudson's Bay Company, on con- 
dition that they should colonise it. 

The Auckland Isles, an uninhabited group in the South 
Pacific, about 500 miles south-east of Van Diemen's Au^a^ 
Land, were granted by Government in 1847 to the 1847 - 



32 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

Messrs. Enderly in compensation for services rendered, by 
whom a settlement was made for the sake of the whale-fishery. 
In India, during the governor-generalship of Sir Henry 
Punjaub, Hardinge, a hostile movement on the part of the 
1849. Sikhs, a tribe inhabiting the Punjaub or i country 

of the five rivers,' in the extreme north of India, and who 
had been in alliance with England since 1809, led to a series 
of battles which ended in the conquest and annexation of the 
Punjaub in 1849. 
p In 1852, Pegu, a province of the Burman Empire, 

1852. was conquered and added to our Indian possessions. 
The province of Oude, a large and rich district in North 
India, which long had been a dependency of the British, was 
0ude annexed to British territory by Lord Dalhousie in 
1856. 1856, in consequence of the misgovernment of its 
kings. Under this and previous administrations, several 
minor states in India had also been annexed on various 
grounds, which will be noticed in their respective places. 
In 1859, the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company expired, 
and that portion of the territory called British Colum- 
Coiumbia, bia, which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains on the 
west coast of America, having become suddenly of 
importance through the discovery of gold-diggings on the 
Frazer River in 1858, was erected into a separate colony, to- 
gether with the neighbouring island of Vancouver. 

A large district on the south-east coast of Africa, inhabited 

by Kafir tribes, and which had been for some years 

Kaffraria, under the protection of England, was erected into a 

British colony in 1860, under the government of 

Cape Colony. 

In 1862, the King of Lagos, a small island off the Slave 
Lagos Coast on the west of Africa, made a voluntary cession 

1862. f his kingdom to Queen Victoria in return for a 

pension of 1,000/. per annum ; and an English settlement has 
been planted there, chiefly for the prevention of the slave- 
trade on the adjacent coast. 



EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE. 33 

It will be seen from the foregoing sketch that by far the 
greater part of our foreign possessions have been gained by 
conquest and cession, and that comparatively few have been, 
1 strictly speaking, colonised from Great Britain — that is, planted 
and occupied by British settlers in the first instance. Thus, 
I Lower Canada, Malta, Mauritius, and several of the West 
India isles, were taken from the French ; Jamaica, Trinidad, 
and Gibraltar, from the Spaniards ; Ceylon, the Cape of Good 
I Hope, and Guiana, from the Dutch ; while New Zealand, 
Australia, Upper Canada, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick, Bermudas, and several of the West Indies, were 
j colonised direct from England. With regard to our Indian 
Empire, the vast subject territories are properly dependencies 
, ; of Great Britain, rather than colonies ; but recent official acts 
will probably have the effect of throwing open to English colo- 
nisation large tracts of land belonging to the Government, which 
have never yet been peopled, and thus one day English 
emigrants may be found even in India breaking the virgin 
soil and cultivating plantations of their own, in the tea-growing 
districts of Assam, or on the rich slopes of the Himalaya. 

The area of the British Empire is 4,369,729 square miles : 
its population (1861) is 224,389,000. Hence our queen 
reigns over nearly one-third of the land of the earth, and about 
a fifth of its population. Scarcely fewer than thirty native 
languages are spoken by her subjects : for instance — English, 
French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Greek, 
Persian, Arabic, Maltese, Chinese, Armenian, Hindostanee, 
Bengalee, Mahratti, Tamil, Telugu, Carnatica, Ooria, Sin- 
galese, Malay, Burmese, Hottentot, Kaffre, Negro, Maori, 
besides many barbarous tongues which have not been formed 
into written languages. In her Majesty's realm there are four 
great established religions, the Christian, the Brahman, the 
Mohammedan, the Buddhist. Of these the Christians number, 
at a rough estimate, 34,031,164 ; the disciples of Brahma, 
50,000,000; the Mahommedans 20,000,000; the Buddhists 
10,000,000. In form, feature, habits of life, and modes 
of thought, the British subjects exhibit as many diversities 

D 



34 GROWTH OF THE EMPIRE. 

as can possibly exist in the members of the human family. 
Place side by side an Englishman, a Hindoo from British 
India, an Arab from Aden, a Chinese from Hong Kong, a 
Negro from South Africa, an Indian from North America, and 
a native Australian, and we shall have specimens of each of 
the great types of the human race. Assemble together an edu- 
cated Englishman and a heavy untutored Hottentot ; a lively 
French Canadian and a grave and bellicose red Indian ; a rice- 
eating Hindoo and a man-eating New Zealander ; a graceful 
Ionian and a lumpish Esquimaux ; and between all these 
subjects of one sovereign there would be as little in common 
as could possibly exist between inhabitants of the same planet. 

The Empire of Victoria is one on which the sun never 
sets ; and at intervals throughout the whole of our day and 
night the orb of light and heat is appearing above the horizon 
successively to societies of our countrymen on British soil. 
And although the dispersion of the English race among these 
widely differing tribes has not been an unmixed good, — 
oppression, corruption, and even destruction having been in 
many cases the consequence to the savage races of the 
approach of the whites, and the selfish policy of the dominant 
power towards the dependent nations having been the great 
drawback to the advantages of civilisation : yet still the great 
aggregate influence from the progress of England's dominion 
has been sun-like ; fertilising and productive to the earth 
itself, and diffusing the light of a higher intelligence, and the 
glow of a truer humanity to its inhabitants. 

The great value of the colonies to England herself is in 
the enormous impulse given by them to the commerce of 
the country. The exports of manufactured goods from the 
British Isles to the colonies are almost equal to the whole of 
our exports to every other part of the globe ; while, on the 
other hand, the colonies yield us a sure supply of luxuries 
and necessaries which no foreign wars or tariffs can interfere 
with. But, perhaps, the colonies are still more deserving 
of consideration as a stimulus and outlet to emigration. Our 
manufacturing system has created a large population in great 



VALUE OF THE COLONIES. 35 

I towns, divorced entirely from the land, and whose occupation 

has induced a large predominance of the nervous at the expense 

j of the muscular system. A serious deterioration of the race 

I is the consequence, for which emigration or employment upon 

; land is the direct remedy ; at war with the laws of nature, as 

! the Titans of old were with the gods, they require again to be 

thrown upon their mother earth for the renewal of their 

strength. 

The reciprocal benefit between England and the colonies is 
not likely to diminish because the policy of the parent state 
with regard to its dependencies is less and less one of interfe- 
rence ; and because, while our convicts no longer crowd their 
shores, the constant immigration of a higher class of settlers 
renders them increasingly capable of governing themselves. 



d2 



PART II. 
THE BRITISH ISLES. 



CHAPTER I. 
FIRST FACTS OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHY. 

Great Britain and Ireland are two large islands in the North 
Atlantic, separated from the western shores of Europe by the 
straits of Dover, twenty-one miles across. Dunnet Head, the 
most northerly point of Scotland, is in lat. 58° 42' N. ; Lizard 
Point in Cornwall, the most southerly headland of England, is 
in lat, 49° 58' N. 

We shall have some rational idea of what these figures mean 
if we observe that the south of England is thus shown 
to be on a level, in Europe, with the south of Belgium 
and the extreme north of the province of Champagne, with 
the finest vineyards of the Rhine, with the centre of Bohemia, 
and the south of Poland ; in Asia, with the cold northern slope 
of its central mountains; and in America, with the chilly 
region of Labrador and the northern extremity of Newfound- 
land. On the other hand, Dunnet Head in Scotland is about 
one degree south of Stockholm and St. Petersburg, and about 
one degree north of Tobolsk ; while in British America, on the 
banks of Lake Athabasca, in the same latitude, the mean annual 
temperature does not rise so high as the freezing point. 

But we should have a wrong idea of the comparative tern- 
Tempera- perature of Great Britain and Ireland if we estimated 
ture * it simply by the latitude. We are virtually nearer 

the tropics. The isothermal line, or line of average heat, 
winter and summer together, which passes through the south 
of England, traverses the northern border of the Crimea — a 



FIRST FACTS OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHY. 37 

land of vines and camels. Nor is North Britain proportionately 
colder than south. The gulf-stream, with its genial warmth, 
approaches Scotland nearer than England, and mitigates the 
severity of the winter to the dwellers on both sides of the 
Tweed. 

We may be said, indeed, to occupy the most temperate part 
of the temperate zone. Rarely does a day, or even part of a 
day, occur in which outdoor or indoor work — farming or 
studying, for instance — is seriously hindered by the state of 
the temperature. The weather is very seldom an impediment 
to travelling at home, and our ports are never blocked up with 
ice so as to prevent our voyaging abroad. A slight difference 
in our position eastward would have increased the cold of our 
winter more than the same change northwards. The snowy 
mountains or plains of a continent to our north would, in all 
probability, have greatly impeded our industry, lessened our 
resources, and embarrassed the administration of our empire. 
It has been estimated that from the Orkneys down to Corn- 
wall, there is an increase of 1° of temperature for every 111 
miles, the mean of the year being 46° in the north, and 52° 
at Penzance; while from east to west the increase is 1° for 
every 66 miles, so that while the winter temperature of 
Greenwich is 35°, that of Penzance is 42°.* 

Excepting in the spring months, the prevailing winds are 
westerly and loaded with vapour from the Atlantic, Climate. 
and on this account there are more rainy days on the west coast 
than on the east. In the course of the year, the average num- 
ber of rainy days on the west is 208, on the east 165. It is 
essentially a moist climate, since the annual average fall of rain 
over the two islands is 42 inches, being 5 inches more than the 
general average of the temperate zones. Thus our crops often 
suffer from too much wet, but seldom from drought, and our 
fields are usually green at the end of the summer, while those 
in the same latitude on the continent are parched and brown. 
In the south-west counties the air is so damp that fruits, 

* White's Walk to the Land's End. 



38 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

such as the apricot, which will ripen farther north, will not 
ripen there, while the temperature is so mild that plants of 
warmer latitudes, such as the myrtle, will bear the winter in 
the open air. The difference in the degree of moisture 
between the east and west sides of the island is one reason 
why tillage prevails in the east and pasture on the west ; why 
more than the average of wheat is supplied from the east 
counties, and more than the average proportion of cattle from 
the west. 

The same cause which produces the abundance of rain, viz. 
the prevalence of westerly winds from the Atlantic, leads also 
to the formation of our numerous rivers, which for the most 
part originate from the warm moist winds striking against the 
mountain ranges on the west, and condensing against their 
colder surface. 

In longitude, England extends nearly 2° to the east of the 
.. , meridian of Greenwich, Ireland nearly 10° to the 

Longitude. 7 J m 

west ; the length of a degree of longitude at the 
latitude of London being about forty miles. Since the sun 
traverses 15° of longitude in the space of an hour, there is 
49 minutes 27 seconds difference in the time of day at the 
extreme east and extreme west of the two islands. 

Great Britain is the largest island in Europe, and the 
seventh largest in the world. It measures 608 miles in 

Dimen- extreme length from Dunnet Head to Lizard Point ; 

S10ns * and in greatest breadth, from the Land's End in 
Cornwall to Lowestoff Ness in Suffolk, about 360 miles. 
Its extent of coast, including the principal openings, is more 
than 4,000 miles, of which Scotland has the larger share. 
Its area is 89,644 square miles. The area of Ireland is rather 
more than one-third that of Britain, viz. 32,508 square 
miles ; its greatest length, from Malin Head to Mizen Head, 
is 290 miles; its greatest breadth 175 miles. 

The British Isles are washed on the north and west by the 
Surround- Atlantic Ocean, which off the north coast of Ireland 
ingseas. reaches a depth of about 600 feet. Great Britain is 
divided from Ireland on the west by the Irish Sea, the North 



FIRST FACTS OF BRITISH GEOGRAPHY. 39 

Channel, and St. George's Channel. It has the English 
Channel on the south, with a depth on the western side of 
about 360 feet, and the North Sea or German Ocean on the 
east, which is generally so shallow, that were its waters drained 
off, we should be at some loss to see where they could have 
found room to be. Except in some deep holes or i pits,' the 
main depth of the German Ocean is only 30 fathoms, or 180 
feet — a depth attained by many lakes of moderate size. 

To these first facts of British geography may be traced the 
greater part of British wealth, vigour, and empire ; and the 
political importance of its mixed races has been attributable as 
much to geographical position as to origin. 

Perhaps few have duly considered the advantages of inhabit- 
ing an island. Some of these are, of course, obvious island 
enough. We are safer from our enemies ; we have structure - 
a large sea-coast, and are more induced, or rather obliged, to 
turn our attention to navigation, and thence to open commu- 
nication with distant lands. But there is much more in an 
insular position than this. If an island were merely a piece 
of land surrounded by water, — any chance piece of land, say 
part of the great flat of Holland or of Russia, put into the sea 
and left to its fate, — little more would have to be said about it. 
Indeed, little more would probably be said about it ; for, 
unless provided at the outset with a most industrious and 
intelligent and wealthy set of inhabitants, it would be no more 
lasting than those mimic islands which some of us may have 
made with sand on the sea-shore among the waves of the 
advancing tide. But an island is not merely a piece of land 
planted somewhere in the ocean ; islands are, indeed, the 
mountains of the sea. They must have risen above a level or 
depression of the surrounding bed of the ocean, or they would 
not be islands at all ; and being mountains, they will have a 
mountainous character. The rocks and soils of the earth will 
not lie levelly or horizontally on their surface, but will be 
tilted up so as to display at least some of earth's hidden trea- 
sures beneath ; hence even small islands are comparatively 
rich in variety of rocks and soils. Geologists tell us that the 



40 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

little isle of Arran in Scotland exhibits two-thirds of all the 
kinds of rocks of which the earth's crust is composed ; while 
it is possible to travel in Russia for two thousand miles over 
one unvarying rock — the old red sandstone. An island, then, 
must possess mineral wealth. Now for this Britain was first 
famed, for this it was first visited, and this is still the chief 
source of its prosperity, influence, and empire. But in a conside- 
rable island, such as Britain, especially when sheltered on one 
side by a continent, there will probably be other features besides 
those of the mountains. Perhaps on the side which the ocean 
washes there will be only rugged rocks to resist it ; but towards 
the more protected quarter, softer soils will stand their ground ; 
and this is exactly the case with Britain. No one needs tell us 
on which side the islands have a fast anchorage of rocks. The 
very outline of Cornwall and the west of Ireland and Scot- 
land, with its rugged indented edges, shows as clearly a 
mountain district, as if we had a raised model to study instead 
of a flat map. On the other side, the rounded shores of 
Norfolk and Lincoln bespeak a less rocky and storm-beaten 
coast. 

The geographical position of the British Isles, no less than 
„ , J .. their island structure and climate, is favourable to 

Position. , . . 

wealth and empire. Our latitude and longitude 
place us in the midst of the world of men, as traders in the 
centre of our customers, as governors and colonists in the 
natural metropolis of our empire. Falmouth in Cornwall is as 
near as possible to the centre of the hemisphere of prevailing 
land, while our antipodes in New Zealand are as near to the 
centre of the hemisphere of prevailing sea. 

In future chapters it will be more fully shown how far the 
nature of the island itself has created that variety of wealth, 
occupation, modes of living and thinking, activity of mind and 
body, which makes our country what it is ; and how it is that 
this geological and geographical microcosm, or ' world in little,' 
has embraced in its interests and dominion a world at large. 



41 



CHAPTER K 
PHYSICAL GEOGBAPHY OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 

GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER. 

England and Wales. — The small portion of the earth's crust 
which forms the British Isles has this peculiar interest belong- 
ing to it, that nearly all the different kinds of rocks which 
mark the great epochs of the world's formation may be found 
within its boundaries. If we could lay bare the entire struc- 
ture of England and Wales, and take a bird's-eye view of it, 
we should see a curious medley of grey, red, green, black, 
white, and brown, in shades and patches more various, though 
not so beautiful, as those of the greens and browns on its 
surface ; and if Ave were to look at those diversified rocks with 
some geological knowledge, we should find that very few of 
them belong to that oldest class of rocks, called igneous, 
because they are supposed to have been cooled down into 
their present granite form from a melted state ; but that nearly 
the whole of the country is composed of the other class of 
rocks, called aqueous or sedimentary, because they consist of 
broken fragments of the older rocks which have been deposited 
in the ocean and have settled down, layer upon layer of sedi- 
ment, until by heat or pressure they have been re-formed 
into solid rock, and have thus always a stratified composition. 
And what adds to the interest of these formations in our own 
land is, that in one direction, west and east, from Pembroke- 
shire to Norfolk, they are found ranged in the same order in 
which they are classified by geologists, that is, in a regular 
series, from the oldest to the more recent deposits. In this 
direction, therefore, we will begin our survey of the geology 
of these islands. 

The lowest amongst the sedimentary rocks are those which 
are called the Older Paleozoic, from the Greek words palaios, 
ancient, and zoon, an animal, because they abound with fossil 



42 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

remains : almost the whole of Wales is composed of these 
rocks together with beds of limestone, clay slate, and a mixed 
rock of a dark brown or purplish colour, called graywache ; 
Silurian a ^ which associated rocks form what is termed the 
rocks. Silurian System, from their occurring chiefly in the 
district inhabited in ancient times by the Silures. In these 
rocks are found the remains of molluscous shells, petrified fish, 
and marine plants. The visitor to the Welsh or Cambrian 
mountains knows well the mixture of slate, limestone, and 
composite graywacke stone which distinguishes them ; and 
the noble height to which some of these mountains rise, is 
evidence of the mighty up-heaving force which tilted them up 
from their ocean-bed. 

In Herefordshire and Monmouthshire we find the next 
_i . oldest sedimentary deposit, viz. the Old Red Sand- 

Devonian. . 

stone, called also the Devonian System from its 
being extensively developed in Devonshire. It is composed 
of fragments of quartz and decomposed felspar, tinted red 
from a large admixture of the oxide of iron, and contains 
fossils of crustaceous animals and fish. This rock abounds 
also in Cornwall. 

Proceeding eastward, we arrive at those rocks from which 
England derives her chief wealth, her coal and iron. These 
Carbonifer- belong to the Newer Paleozoic Period, and are called 
ous * the Carboniferous System from the vast amount of 

vegetable matter, that is, carbon, which enters into their com- 
position. They consist of limestone, millstone-grit, and coal- 
seams, and mostly abound in iron and lead. Coal, which is a 
chemical compound formed from vegetable matter under great 
pressure, is usually found lying in hollows above the limestone, 
and iron is generally found beneath the coal-beds. The fossil 
remains in these strata are tropical plants, such as enormous 
ferns, palms, and pine trees, with insects of the cockroach 
species, beetles, scorpions, and reptiles ; and these remains 
are of the utmost importance as a guide to the coal-miner, 
as it is only by their imbedded fossils that those rocks can be 
recognised with certainty under which coal is sure to be found. 



GEOLOGICAL CHAEACTEE. 43 

The name of coal-formation is usually given to the whole of 
this series, consisting of coal, mountain limestone, and mill- 
stone grit, together with the old red sandstone on which it 
rests ; but coal is sometimes found independently of the car- 
boniferous strata, and reposing immediately upon the old red 
sandstone. This is the case at Coalbrook Dale and Dudley. 
The coal districts of England and Wales have been divided 
into, 1. The great northern district, including all the coal- 
fields north of the Trent, extending through Northumberland, 
Durham, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire. 2. The 
central district, including Leicestershire, Warwickshire, 
Staffordshire, and Shropshire. 3. The western district, sub- 
divided into north-western, including North Wales ; and 
south-western, including South Wales, Gloucestershire, and 
Somersetshire. The limestone and millstone grit belonging 
to this carboniferous system are useful as marble and building- 
stones, and the more beautiful specimens of the former may be 
seen in the spars and variegated marbles of Derbyshire, which 
are intermixed with the toadstone formations, supposed to have 
had an igneous origin. 

After the carboniferous series we approach the great middle 
division of Sedimentary rocks, called the Secondary Secondary 
strata. The epoch to which they belong has been rocks. 
named the 'Age of Eeptiles,' and here are found the fossil 
remains of those strange sea and land reptiles which have 
no representation in the existing world. The New New Eed 
Eed Sandstone is the first of this series, and it Sandstone, 
occupies a large portion of the midland counties, where it 
expands itself into an immense tract of almost level country, 
and stretches north and south from Durham to Devonshire. 
Next to this is the Lias formation, which is still more 

. Lias. 

remarkable for its fossil remains of extinct species 
of giant lizards and reptiles, the Ichthyosauri and Plesiosauri. 
The word lias means flat-layer, and the lias in England con- 
sists of thin strata of blue and grey limestones separated by 
dark clayey divisions, so that the quarries of this rock, as may 
be seen especially in Yorkshire, have a peculiar striped- 



44 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

ribbon appearance. The Wold Hills on the borders of Not- 
tinghamshire and Leicestershire are formed of a variety of this 
lias, called lias- shale. 

After the lias come the Oolitic limestones, so called because 
they are constituted of small globules of stone, 
oon being the Greek for egg, and lithos for stone. 
There is a marked difference in the character of the country 
where this oolite prevails from that which is formed of the 
level sandstone and lias. The range of it extends from the 
coast of Dorsetshire up to Scarborough, and at Clevedown 
Hill, near Cheltenham, it reaches the height of 1,200 feet above 
the sea-level. Fuller's- earth and Portland stone are varieties 
of this formation. Those singular fossil skeletons of flying 
lizards, Pterodactyl, with enormous bills and teeth, are found 
in these oolitic rocks, and in these strata there is the first 
appearance of animals of the mammalian class. 

The western edge of this deposit laps over the great lias 
plains, and its eastern edge inclines beneath the next great 
deposit, the last of the Secondary series, the Chalk 
and Greensand. These chalk strata occupy an im- 
mense range in England, extending from Dorsetshire to Norfolk, 
stretching south and east to Brighton and Dover, composing 
the North and South Downs, the cliffs of Dover, Beachy 
Head, the back of the Isle of Wight, and the Needles. Chalk 
is found under the microscope to be entirely composed of broken 
shells and corals, and contains fossils of fish, sponges, sea-weeds, 
and the gigantic Mosasaurus. 

On entering the Tertiary period which succeeds to the 
Tertiary Chalk or Cretaceous System, we seem to approach a 
rocks. new era< i With the chalk,' says Professor Ansted, 

i we close, as it were, one great volume of animated creation. 
Everything up to this time belongs to the past ; everything on 
this side of it may be ranked among indications of the present.' 
Hence the lowest of this Tertiary series is called the Eocene, 
from eos, dawn, and Jcainos, new. Beds of this eocene period 
exist in what is called the basin of the Thames, in Hampshire, 
Southampton, and the Isle of Wight, and the fossil shells 



GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER. 45 

found in them are, for the first time, allied to existing species. 
The London clay, which forms the Thames basin, is a variety 
of this rock, and the beautifully- coloured sands and clays, 
and limestones, called fresh-water beds, which may be seen 
at Alum Bay, and White Cliff Bay, are specimens of these 
eocene formations, and belong to what is called the Hampshire 
basin. On the coasts of Sussex, Essex, and Norfolk are found 
rocks belonging to a still later period, the Pleiocene (from 
pleion, major, and kainos, recent). This rock is the Red 
Crag, and is a deep ferruginous-coloured gravel abounding 
with fossil shells which approach still more to those of our own 
period. 

To the north of these coasts, in the extreme north of Cam- 
bridgeshire, and to the east of Lincolnshire, and part of 
Yorkshire, we find the Norwich Crag, a deposit Drift 
abounding with remains of mammalia, and belong- formations, 
ing to that epoch which forms the last of the geological series, 
viz. the Pleistocene or Drift period. And with this era we 
seem, indeed, to open a new volume in the history of the 
ancient earth. For it is in these pleistocene strata, — in gravel 
beds, and caverns which lie often beneath more recent deposits, 
— that human implements have been found, intermingled with 
the bones of extinct animals. Near Wells, in Somersetshire, 
a cave has been opened in which are found arrow-heads made 
of bone, side by side with fossil bones of animals now unknown. 
In the gravel-pits at Biddenham, near Bedford, flint tools 
are found mingled with bones of the elephant and deer. 
Lance-heads and other flint instruments have been dug up 
from the gravel-beds beneath London and Suffolk, and in 
Glamorganshire the remains of rhinoceroses have been lately 
discovered lying above some flint knives. But at present no 
human bones have been found in formations that belong to the 
geological ages. 

We have thus traversed the almost regular series of sedi- 
mentary rocks from west to east which constitute nearly the 
whole of England and Wales. But in smaller proportions 
occur rocks of a still older date, and of special value, as they 



46 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

are for the most part the receptacles of our tin and copper, and, 
in small quantities, of gold and silver, besides one of their 
forms composing the common or roofing slate, which is 
quarried to a great extent in North Wales. These rocks are 
Metamor- older than the Paleozoic, and are called the Meta- 
phic rocks. mQ-qphic or Altered Eocks, because they are sup- 
posed to have been changed by heat from an original 
sedimentary form. They have a stratified structure, but no 
organic remains whatever. Gneiss, mica slate, and quartz 
rock are their varieties, and they are found in Cornwall, Cum- 
berland, Westmoreland, and North Wales. And in still smaller 
igneous proportions we find those oldest rocks of all — the 
rocks. granite and the trap varieties — which have no strata, 

but are supposed to owe their present conglomerate form 
entirely to the action of fire. The granite in England is 
chiefly confined to Cornwall, and the trap-rocks are found 
permeating the secondary strata in various directions through- 
out the north, midland, and western districts. 

Scotland. — Although a part of the same island, Scotland 
presents geological features very different to England, and 
abounds most in those formations in which England is defi- 
cient. Thus, the bare, rugged, mountainous Highland 
districts belong almost exclusively to the igneous and meta- 
morphic periods, together with the newer paleozoic ; and the 
granite and trap rocks, the gneiss and mica slate, and the 
old red sandstone, almost divide Northern Scotland between 
them. In the Lowlands, however, appears a totally different 
character of surface. An immense coal-field extends, though 
not quite continuously, through the Mid-Lothian and East- 
Lothian districts, over a distance of about 100 miles, with a 
breadth of from 30 to 40 miles. South of this stretch vast 
areas of mountain limestone and Silurian strata, intermixed 
with the old red sandstone, trap, and granite. Thus, in Scot- 
land, there is almost an entire absence of the secondary and 
tertiary strata, and the history which its geology reveals to us 
of the past, stops short midway. 



MINERALS. 47 

Ireland. — Ireland differs essentially from the sister king- 
doms in this respect, that while carboniferous limestone 
extends nearly over the whole of the interior, the coal-seams 
are few and insignificant. Paleozoic formations, both of the 
older and newer series, occupy the whole of the island, with 
the exception of large tracts of granite and trap on the coast, 
especially the north-east ; the Giant's Causeway at the north 
point of the county of Antrim affording a splendid illustration 
of the peculiar composition of the plutonic and trap rocks, and 
of the step-like appearance at a distance which suggested their 
name, from a Swedish word, trappa, a flight of steps. Here, 
then, again in Ireland, we have none of those tertiary deposits 
which characterise the east of England, and which, from the 
fossil remains contained in them of animals which could only 
have lived under water, point to a comparatively recent geo- 
logical period when that portion of England was under the 
ocean, while the rest of the two islands rose above it. The 
paleozoic portions, however, of Ireland, are largely covered 
over with deposits from the most recent period of all, the drift 
or pleistocene. 

MINERAL WEALTH OF THE KINGDOM. 

The mineral treasures of our islands are far more in quantity, 
variety, and commercial value, than those of any other country ; 
and when it is considered to what an extent the prosperity 
of Britain, and her existence as a first-rate power and nation, 
are due to the coal and iron which the old rocks have hoarded 
up for us, it is with a feeling of wonder, and almost of awe, 
that we seem to trace a connection between these dusky 
mementos of primeval ages and the energetic genius of the 
race of men who were destined to appropriate them to the 
needs of their daily life, and to the higher requirements of 
their inventive faculties ; more especially if the theory is to be 
admitted that the process of their formation must have taken 
place during long cycles when this portion of the globe was 
subject to a tropical temperature, whereas the sturdy race 
who needed the coal, and were capable of moulding the iron to 



48 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

all its various uses, required to be reared in a comparatively 
cold and bracing climate. 

The chief minerals of the United Kingdom are coal, iron, salt, 
Gold and limestone, copper, lead, tin, silver, and zinc. To these, 
Silver. probably, ought at one time to have been added gold, 

since there is evidence that in early days there was an extraor- 
dinary abundance of gold as well as silver in this country. Long 
before the Conquest, the English were eminent for their manu- 
factures in gold and silver, and it was the gold and silver spoils 
from England, which the Conqueror displayed on his first visit 
to Normandy, that so excited the admiration of the strangers 
on the continent. In the Irish annals occur very often the 
payments of ecclesiastical duties and rents in gold and silver ; 
for instance, at the consecration of a church in the year 1157, 
1 Murha O'Lochlin, King of Ireland, gave a town, 150 cows, 
and 60 ounces of gold, to God and the clergy.' It is supposed 
that our chief supply of gold was from Ireland, and, although 
there is a little doubt as to how far it was yielded by native 
mines, or obtained from the East and the northern pirates, it 
seems difficult to believe that a regular and extensive manu- 
facture depended for its materials mainly upon so uncertain a 
source as was foreign intercourse in those days. At present 
our gold is limited to exceedingly small quantities, found occa- 
sionally in the stream tin-works at Cornwall, in the lead-hills 
of Scotland, and in Wicklow in. Ireland. Silver is met with 
in the Cornish copper-mines, and sometimes is extracted from 
lead-ore, but the amount is quite inconsiderable. A silver- 
mine was worked in Linlithgowshire, in 1607, and in the last 
century a vein of silver-ore was worked in Stirlingshire. 

It is through their tin productions that we gain a glimpse of 
our isles long before their historical period commences, 
and the traffic of the old Phoenician colonists with 
the tin islands which lay i beyond seas north of the Pillars of 
Hercules ' was, even in the time of Caesar, a dim tradition of 
the past. In whatever way the British Isles can be identified 
with the famous Cassiterides, or tin islands of the ancients 
(from Cassiteron, the Greek for tin), — whether or not they were 



MINERALS. 49 

in reality the Scilly Isles, which, at that period, there is some 
reason to believe formed a continuation of the mainland of 
Cornwall, — it is certain that Albion, before the invasion of 
Caesar, was chiefly known to Greeks and Romans through these 
treasures of her Cornish mines ; and Strabo records that the 
historian Polybius, the friend of Scipio, had composed a trea- 
tise on the subject of ' The British Isles, and the mode of 
preparing Tin.' Although comparatively a scarce metal, tin 
is one most likely to have attracted the notice of the ancients, 
since it is readily found from lying generally near the surface, 
and the ore is easily reduced to metal by a moderate degree of 
heat. The Phoenicians are supposed to have used it in pre- 
paring dyes, and probably it had an especial value in the eyes 
of our combative predecessors, because, when mixed with 
copper, it was capable of taking a sharper edge as a sword or 
spear than even iron itself. Cornwall and Devonshire alone 
supply tin, and although these mines have been worked for 
ages, their yield forms now about twelve-thirteenths of all the 
tin produced in Europe. 

There is evidence that our lead-mines also were worked by 
the Romans, from masses or pigs of British lead 
having been found with the names of the Emperors 
Domitian and Adrian inscribed on them. The object of 
these royal marks upon the lead is supposed to have been to 
limit the quantity taken from the mines claimed by the 
Emperors as their own property. Pigs so inscribed are pre- 
served in the British Museum. The lead-producing counties 
in Great Britain are, Cornwall, Devonshire, Somersetshire, 
Derbyshire, Durham, Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmoreland, 
Shropshire, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Merionethshire, Mont- 
gomeryshire, Dumfriesshire, Lanarkshire, Ayrshire, Argyle- 
shire; and in Ireland, Armagh, Wexford, Wicklow, Water- 
ford, Clare, and Down, and it is supposed that in ancient times 
as now, the amount supplied by our mines of this mineral was 
more than that of all the rest of Europe. 

It is only recently that the copper-mines of the British Isles 
have been worked to any great extent. They occur Copper. 

E 



50 THE BRITISH ISLES. > 

in Cornwall, Staffordshire, Anglesea, Waterford, Cork, and 
zinc. Kerr j. Zinc is found in Derbyshire. 
Iron is exceedingly plentiful in England. Of all the metals 
it is the most useful and the most universally diffused 

Iron. . . , J 

in nature, being found in all the three kingdoms of 
animal, mineral, and vegetable, and even of air also, since it 
forms a large proportion in the composition of meteoric stones. 
It is seldom, if ever, found in a ' native ' or metallic state, 
excepting in these meteoric stones, and the ores from which 
it is extracted are very various. That from which we obtain 
the chief supply is the clay iron-stone, an impure carbonate 
of iron, which occurs in coal deposits ; the ore, which is 
associated with the coal and mountain limestone, having an 
immense advantage in the working, since both of them are ne- 
cessary in the process of fusing. There is no doubt of our iron 
mines having been worked by the Romans, since Roman coins 
have been found in the refuse and cinder heaps of ancient 
iron-works, and we know that long before the Conquest the 
art of manufacturing iron and steel was much advanced. 
Remains of old iron furnaces have been found in Lancashire, 
Staffordshire, and Yorkshire, but the principal ancient seats of 
the iron manufacture appear to have been in Sussex and the 
Forest of Dean or Arden, in Gloucestershire. South Wales 
furnishes an immense supply of iron, and in 1836 it was 
ascertained by a French engineer, who visited every iron- work 
in the United Kingdom, that the year's aggregate supply 
amounted to one million of tons. 

Coal is by far the most important of our mineral treasures. 
In money value, the amount ' of coal supplied by 
the United Kingdom is more than two-thirds that 
of the whole mineral produce. The total area of the coal- 
fields in the British Isles is about 8,000 square miles, and the 
average thickness of the coal-seams about 15 feet. The 
deepest coal-mines are in Lancashire and Cheshire ; at 
Duckinfield, coal is worked 2,504 feet below the surface ; and 
in Cumberland, near Whitehaven, the mines extend far under 
the bed of the ocean. The total number of collieries at present 



MINERALS. 5 1 

in Great Britain is estimated at 2,654 ; of these, 1,943 are in 
England, 235 in Wales, 405 in Scotland, and 71 in Ireland. 
Considering that nearly 70,000,000 tons of coals are dug 
annually from our mines, it has become a question of some 
anxiety how long the old rocks will bear, without exhaustion, 
this enormous drain upon their buried treasures ; and how soon 
it may be expected that the future inhabitants of these isles 
will be destitute of their home-stores of fuel. Geologists differ 
much in their reckoning. Professor Ansted computes that in 
600 years we shall have exhausted our stock ; while, according 
to Dr. Buckland, the supply may last 1,050 years ; and Mr. 
Bakewell states that the South Wales coal-fields alone will 
suffice for the consumption, at its present rate, of 2,000 
years. 

It was not until about the year 1400 that coal came into 
general domestic use. Before that time it had been employed 
for manufacturing purposes ; and it was evidently known to 
the aboriginal British, since old relics of that period, such as 
hammer heads, wedges, and flint axes, have been found 
mingled with coal fragments. At the end of the thirteenth 
century it began to be used by the soap-boilers, smiths, and 
brewers of London ; but it seems that an outcry was raised 
against the practice, on the ground that it was injurious to the 
health, and in 1316 Parliament petitioned Edward I. to pro- 
hibit the burning of coal. Notwithstanding this, however, 
the consumption of coal seems steadily to have increased, and 
some idea of the extent of the demand and supply may be 
gained from the fact that about a quarter of a century ago, 
before railways had superseded water conveyance, nearly 
8,000 ships were employed to supply London alone with coal 
from the native ports. This sea conveyance of coal to the 
metropolis is said to have had an important bearing on the 
efficiency of the British navy ; and some of our best seamen, 
who maintained England's renown in naval warfare, are said 
to have been trained in these coal vessels. No less than 
seventy different kinds of coals are imported into London, and 
forty-five of these are from Newcastle. All these varieties. 

e2 



52 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

have been ranged under the following principal heads : 1 . 
Caking -coal, a Newcastle variety, so called from its tendency 
to fuse together and form one mass, unless constantly stirred. 
2. Splint or hard coal, common in the Glasgow coal-fields, 
difficult both to break and to kindle, but making a clear and 
lasting fire. 3. Cherry or soft coal, forming the principal 
variety of the Staffordshire mines; burns and breaks readily, 
requires little stirring, and leaves few cinders ; has a velvet 
black colour, mingled with grey, and a resinous lustre. 4. 
Cannel or parrot coal, called cannel in Lancashire, because 
it burns with a clear, candle-like flame ; and parrot in Scot- 
land, because while burning it makes a cracking and chatter- 
ing noise. There are many varieties of this cannel coal, some 
being bright and shining, and others dull and earthy. It will 
often take a good polish, and, being clean and compact, can 
be made into boxes and other articles. Jet is an extreme 
variety of cannel coal. 

Although British salt is confined principally to one district, 
that of Cheshire, the supply is very abundant, and 
the sources of it are said to be inexhaustible. More 
than a million tons are annually supplied from the Weaver 
Valley, in the neighbourhood of Northwick, alone. Common 
salt, muriate of soda, is either quarried from beds of rock- 
salt, or procured by evaporation from brine springs or sea- 
water. The rock-salt is usually in beds of about forty yards thick 
from about thirty to fifty yards beneath the surface. Immense 
deposits of rock-salt exist in the New Red Sandstone of 
Cheshire, and in smaller proportions in Worcestershire, Staf- 
fordshire, Gloucestershire, and Durham, and there appears to 
be a saltiferous belt running diagonally through the kingdom 
from north-east to south-west, partly connected with the coal- 
fields, in the line of which salt is more or less found in the 
form of rock-salt or brine-springs. The brine-springs also of 
Cheshire are very productive. In Scotland, Hampshire, and 
the Isle of Wight, salt is procured from sea- water. The salt 
used for common domestic purposes in England is obtained 
from the brine- springs, and strengthened with the rock-salt. 



SURFACE OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 53 

There are two sorts of slate in the British Isles. The true 

slate is that which belongs to the metamorphic _ x 

. , i . i . -. • Slate - 

period, and reposes upon the mica-schist and gneiss, 

and is covered by old red sandstone or mountain limestone. 

This slate is found in Scotland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, 

Yorkshire, Charnwood Forest, North and South Wales, 

Devonshire, Cornwall, and also in Ireland, and is split by 

wedges from the solid rock. The other kind of slate belongs 

to the carboniferous series, and is either the flagstone of the 

coal formation, or a sort of sandy limestone. It lies naturally 

in thin strata, and is used chiefly for roofing purposes. 

As would be seen by the geological sketch, limestone and 

building-stone abound in almost every part of England and 

Ireland ; granite and sandstone in Scotland ; while various 

other minerals, such as fuller's earth, antimony, manganese, 

and arsenic, are found in different parts of the kingdom, and 

recently the new clay-metal, aluminium, has been added to 

our mineral productions. 

CHARACTER OF THE SURFACE. 

England and Wales, — Upon the surface, as well as beneath 
it, our islands are distinguished by variety; and there is no 
similar extent of country in Europe which presents so many 
different kinds of scenery, such a diversity of mountain and 
valley, hill and plain, woodland and pasture-land, fertile 
regions and barren. This variety naturally extends itself to 
the condition and occupation of the inhabitants ; so that Dr. 
Buckland, in his Bridgwater Treatise, makes the remark, that 
if three travellers were to traverse England and Wales in three 
different directions and were to report upon the country, the 
one would describe it 'as a thinly-peopled region of barren 
hills and mountains ; the second, as a land of rich pastures, 
crowded with a flourishing population of manufacturers ; the 
third, as a great corn-field, occupied by persons almost exclu- 
sively engaged in the pursuits of husbandry.' The first would 
traverse the mountain district of Cornwall, Wales, and the 
north-west of England : the second, the vast undulated plains 



54 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

of those Midland districts which rest upon the new red sand- 
stone, extending from Devonshire to Newcastle, where lie the 
rich treasures of coal and iron beneath, and on the surface are 
the busiest of England's population, the great working-hives 
of Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby, 
and Birmingham, together with the country villages, the farms, 
the fertile pastures, the hedge-rows and oaks which make the 
peculiar charm of our inland scenery ; the third would pursue 
his route over the great oolitic and chalk region, reaching 
from Dorsetshire to Yorkshire, where there are the largest and 
finest farms in the world, and where corn-fields and agriculturists 
abound. And thus it is that the hard, dark rocks underneath 
have impressed a certain character upon the fair and smiling 
surface ; and it is exceedingly interesting to trace from their 
foundation the causes in nature which have led to this variety 
in our surrounding influences, our culture, and our modes of 
life, and which have helped to make us what we are as a people. 
We have glanced at the underground causes, we will now look 
at some of those on the surface. 

To begin with the mountains and rivers. Although we 
Mountains have no mountains of any great height, Snowdon, 
and Eivers. 357^ feet, being the culminating point of England 
and Wales., yet we have every variety of mountain aspect, 
from the bold and lofty granite peak to the gently undulating 
hill and sloping down ; and, although England is reckoned 
comparatively a level country, it is pleasantly divided into 
vales rather than plains, and all the towns and villages in 
England and Wales of any size or importance are situated in 
hollows or river-basins, and thus lie in the vicinity of streams 
and are bounded by rising ground. The name of river basins 
is given to the whole series of brooks and rivulets which con- 
tribute to form a river from its source to its termination, 
and to the surface of the country which is drained by it ; and 
since rivers are formed from mountain-streams finding their 
lowest level in these valleys or basins, and so uniting, we must 
look to our mountains and hills for the sources, size, and, for 
the most part, direction of our rivers. The principal mountain 



SURFACE OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 55 

range of England and Wales runs north and south, in accord- 
ance with the law that ' mountain ranges follow the direction 
of the greatest length of land in which they are situated ' (or, 
to speak more correctly, the greatest length of land follows the 
direction of the line of mountains), and extends with some 
interruptions five hundred miles from the Scottish border to 
the Land's End. In consequence of these highest mountains 
lying more to the west than the east, the whole slope of the 
country is towards the east, and thus the chief rivers, which 
have their origin in these mountains, flow eastward into the 
German ocean. The Severn, which rises in Plynlimmon, is 
the only large river which empties itself west, but this river 
would apparently have joined the Thames and thus also flowed 
east, if it had not been deflected by the Cotswold Hills, and so 
turned aside into the Bristol Channel. This principal line of 
mountains is divided into three ranges : — 1st, the Northern 
EaDge, reaching from the extreme north of England to the 
Peak of Derbyshire, and including three different chains, the 
Cheviot Hills, the Pennine Chain, and the Cumbrian Moun- 
tains ; 2nd, the Cambrian Eange, comprising the Welsh 
Mountains and extending to the Malvern Hills, in Hereford- 
shire ; 3rd, the Devonian Eange, which extends from Wor- 
cestershire to Cornwall. Branches of hills from these mountains 
proceed eastward into the great Midland Flat, and there form 
the watersheds * of the rivers, and determine the size and 
direction of the river basins. The central plains are thus 
divided by these hills into four chief river basins, those of the 
Humber, the Wash, the Thames, and the Severn. Of these, 
the basin of the Humber and Trent is the largest, being one- 
sixth of the entire kingdom. The Humber itself is an estuary 
rather than a river, and receives many tributary streams, which 
have their source in the Yorkshire hills, such as : the York- 
shire Ouse, the Yorkshire Derwent, the Aire, the Don ; and 
also the Trent, which rises in Staffordshire and receives the 

* A watershed (from scheidc, division) is the place whence flowing 
waters begin to descend in opposite directions. — Johnston. 



56 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Dove and the Derbyshire Derwent. The river-basin which 
these streams occupy consists of the space lying between the 
Tees and the Wash on the east, and extending on the west 
from within twenty miles of the coast at Morecambe Bay to a 
branch of the Cotswold Hills, a little below Birmingham. 
These hills separate it from the next large basin, that of the 
Wash, which receives the streams of the Great Ouse, Nen, 
Welland, and Witham. South of this is the Thames-basin, 
which again is divided on the west from the Severn-basin, 
which extends from Plynlimmon to the Devonian Mountains. 
The three first of these basins slope towards the North Sea, 
and the Severn towards the Atlantic ; their combined area is 
more than half the entire surface, and twenty-eight of our 
capital-towns are situated in them.* By the minor undulations 
of the surface, these larger basins are subdivided into numerous 
smaller ones, and in these sheltered and fertile vales all our 
larger towns and villages have sprung up : in this respect the 
more modern English showing a marked difference to the very 
early inhabitants, who, there is evidence to prove, almost uni- 
formly chose the highlands for their residence ; probably be- 
cause in those days the valleys were too much choked by 
forests and swamped with marshes to be fit for habitation or 
pasturage. No rivers of any size or importance flow south 
into the English Channel ; as might be expected from the cha- 
racter of the coast, which consists of high chalk downs reach- 
ing from Dover to Salisbury plain, and of a broken series of 
hills and elevated lands, which branch off from the Devonian 
Eange. The same may be said of the mountainous west coast, 
where, with the exception of the Severn, the Mersey, and the 
Dee, the rivers are insignificant. 

The lakes in England are more distinguished for their exceed- 
ing beauty than for their size or number. With the ex- 
ception of two in Huntingdonshire, viz. : Whittlesea- 
mere and Ramseymere, all the English lakes are congregated in 
the northern counties of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lanca- 

* Mackay's Manual of Geography. 



SURFACE OF SCOTLAND. 57 

shire. Five of them are in Westmoreland, viz. : Windermere, 
the largest of the whole group, 10 miles long, Grassmere, 
Eydal, Ulleswater, and Haweswater. Eight of them are in 
Cumberland, viz. : Derwentwater, the second largest, Bassen- 
thwaite, Thirlemere, Buttermere, Loweswater, Crummock- 
water, Ennerdale Water, Wastwater ; and one is in Lancashire, 
viz. : Coniston Water. These lakes all lie in the basins of small 
rivers which flow into the Irish Sea. The largest lake in Wales 
is Bala, in Merionethshire, 8 miles loag, which is drained bj 
the Dee. 

Scotland. — In Scotland we find a very different distribution 
of mountains and river-basins. The lofty Gram- Scotch 
pians, the highest ridge in the kingdom, stretch Mountains. 
for about 100 miles across the country from south-west to 
north-east, from Loch Linnhe, in Argyll, to near Aberdeen, 
and nearly form the boundary between the Highlands and the 
Lowlands. Connected with these mountains by a low ridge of 
hills, Ben Nevis, in Inverness- shire, raises its flat summit of 
porphyry 4,368 feet above the sea-level, and is supposed to be 
the highest point of Great Britain. Branches from the Gram- 
pians occupy nearly the whole of Scotland north of the Forth 
and Clyde ; but the peculiarity of the Scotch mountain system 
is that the principal ranges lie nearly parallel to one another 
in the direction of NE. and SW., stretching for the most part 
across the country from coast to coast ; the valleys and river- 
basins, which lie between, following the same direction as the 
mountains. There are five of these principal ranges : 1st, the 
Northern Highlands, which extend, in detached groups, over 
Caithness, Sutherland, Eoss, and Inverness ; 2nd, the Gram- 
pians; 3rd, the Ochil and Sidlaw Eange, consisting of three 
small chains stretching from Forfarshire to Stirlingshire, and 
separated from the Grampians by the vale of Strathmore ; 
4th, the Lammermoor and Pentland Eange, divided by the 
Firth of Forth from the Ochil Eange, and consisting of the 
Lammermoor Hills, the Moorfoot Hills, the Pentland Hills, 
and Tinto Hill ; 5th, the Cheviot and Lowther Eange, or the 



58 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Southern Highlands, extending from Wigtownshire to the 
English Cheviots. 

The principal river-basins which lie between these mountain- 
River ranges are eight in number. Three of them lie north 
Basins. f the Grampians, viz. : the basins of the Dee and 
Don on the east, and the Linnhe on the west ; and these 
basins include nearly the whole of the district of the High- 
lands. South of the Grampians are the three basins of the 
Tay and the Forth on the east, and the Clyde on the west. 
The basins of the Tweed and the Solway are on the north of 
the Lammermoor Eange, and are separated from England by 
the Cheviot Hills. 

The Scotch rivers are of no great size (the largest of them 
Rivers * s ^ e •^ ortn > 180 miles), but are remarkable for the 

Lochs, large bays or firths by which they empty them- 

selves into the sea, and for the multitude of small 
lakes or lochs which are threaded upon them, and which give 
a singular beauty to Scotch scenery. Sometimes, these lochs 
are merely arms of the sea, running for miles into the recesses 
of the mountains; sometimes they are collections of inland 
water, supplied and drained by the rivers, the names of which 
they generally bear. There are about forty-two of these lochs. 
The largest of them is Loch Lomond, 24 miles long and 8 
broad ; the deepest of them is said to be Loch Ness, in Inver- 
ness, 810 feet, the waters of which consequently never freeze. 
The different aspects of Scotland vary from the extreme 
barren to the most beautiful and highly cultivated. The 
north and west counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Eoss, and 
part of Inverness, consist of little else than one immense mass 
of rocky plains lying from 500 to 1,500 feet above the level of 
the sea, from which plains other rocks rise, many hundreds 
of feet higher still. Two bold, rocky promontories, Dunnet 
Head on the west, and Duncansby Head on the east, in the 
county of Caithness, form the most northerly points of the 
kingdom, and oppose a strong barrier to the impetuous currents 
of the Pentland Firth. East of Duncansby Head is the piece 
of green turf called John o' Groat's House, although tradition 



SURFACE OF IRELAND. 59 

refuses to say whether any house ever really stood here, and 
who the eccentric person was who preferred this bleak situa- 
tion. A flat and almost treeless* moorland forms the greater 
part of Caithness, and the tempestuous climate adds to the 
dreariness of the aspect. Thunder is rarely heard in this 
district, and the aurora-borealis is said to be almost constantly 
visible. The cultivated portions of these northern counties is 
limited to the sides of the plains, and the level lands along the 
water-courses ; but agriculture has lately made rapid progress. 
On the coast, the herring-fishery is the chief occupation. The 
long and narrow valley of Glenmore separates this sterile 
region from other regions of mountain, moorland, and plain, 
which extend to the foot of the Grampians. This highest 
mountain region being passed, the land becomes more arable 
and fertile. The great vale of Strathmore, eighty miles long, 
extends through the counties of Perth and Forfar, and is 
richly cultivated. South of this vale, the country assumes its 
most industrial aspect in consequence of its mineral treasures, 
the coal and iron in the valley of the Clyde and in the Mid- 
lothian district in the basin of the Forth. Here important 
manufacturing towns begin to abound ; and chief of them, 
Glasgow, the largest town in Scotland, and almost in the same 
line of latitude, the capital of Edinburgh, or Midlothian. 

It is estimated that only about one-fourth of the country is 
under cultivation. The whole country is comparatively bare 
of trees, and not one large forest is to be found in Scotland. 
The most fertile districts are in Strathmore, Fifeshire, Teviot- 
dale, Berwickshire and Tynedale. 

Ireland. — In Ireland, a third variety of mountain arrange- 
ment presents itself. We have no longer the one-sided 
elevation of surface as in England, nor the parallel 
ranges as in Scotland, but here the mountains, in detached 
groups, range themselves all round the coast, and enclose, as 
in a vast ring, the great limestone plain in the centre. This 
central basin extends from Dublin on the east, to Galway on 
the west, and from Lough Neagh on the north, to Waterford on 



60 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

the south, and is gently undulated by a few low ranges of 
hills. The mountains are of no great height. The highest of 
them is Curran Fual, 3,404 feet, belonging to the Macgillicuddy 
Keeks, in Kerry ; and beginning from this culminating point, 
the principal groups round the country are as follows. In 
Cork, the Muskerry, Bogragh and Neagh mountains : in 
Tipperary and Waterford, the Salty, Knockmeledown, and 
Commaragh mountains : in Wexford, the Blackstairs : in 
Wicklow, Lugnaquilla and Kippur : in Down, the Mourne 
mountains : in Antrim, the Glenocum mountains : in Lon- 
donderry, the Carntogher mountains : in Donegal, Mount 
Errigal : in Mayo, the Nephin-Beg : south of Clew Bay in 
Connaught, the Connemara mountains : in Clare, Mount 
Callan : and south of the Shannon, Mount Brandon, the 
second highest mountain in Ireland. The shores of Ireland 
are precipitous and lofty, excepting on the east coast, which is 
generally low and flat ; all that is most rugged and grand 
and wild in its scenery belongs to the coasts which are opposed 
to the storms of the Atlantic. 

The river-basins in Ireland follow an extremely orderly 

arrangement. The principal ones are twelve in 
Basins. number, and are divided in the middle by the main 

axis of the country ; that is, the line which marks 
the greatest length of land, taken from Mizen Head, in Cork, to 
Fair Head, in Antrim. Six of these river-basins are thus on 
one side of this line, and incline east to the Irish Sea, and six 
are on the other side, and incline west to the Atlantic. Those 

rivers which flow into the St. George's Channel are, 

the Boyne, the Liffey, the Slaney, the Barrow and 
Suir, the Blackwater, and the Lee ; those which flow into the 
Atlantic are, the Shannon, the Corrib, the Moy, the Erne, the 
Foyle, and the Bann. Of these, the Shannon, 220 miles long, 
is the largest, and is navigable through nearly the whole of its 
course. As in Scotland, the country abounds with lakes or 
loughs, and in Ulster is the largest lake in the United King- 
dom, Lough Neagh, 17 miles long and 10 broad ; while 
the extreme beauty of the Killarney Lakes, at the foot of the 



SURFACE OF IRELAND. 61 

highest mountains, the Macgillicuddy Reeks, makes Kerry a 
chosen county for tourists. And also as in Scotland, these 
loughs, especially on the coast exposed to the western ocean, 
often consist of arms of the sea, running deeply inland, and 
forming the estuaries of the rivers. 

The general character of the surface is more undulated and 
varied than that of England, and less wild and rugged than 
that of Scotland. The bare statement of the fact that 
nearly three million acres of its surface consist of ° gs ' 
bogs, might give a dreary impression of the Emerald Isle ; 
but it must be remembered that the Irish bogs are not mere 
quagmire, as the word commonly imports, but, although with 
a soft, quagmire foundation, are composed on the surface of 
peat to the average depth of twenty-five feet, solid enough to 
bear considerable weight, and most valuable for fuel, and 
which forms the soil for innumerable mosses, and that a large 
proportion of the bog district is now under cultivation. A 
million and a half acres of flat bogs He in the central plain, to 
the east and west of the Shannon ; those in King's County and 
Kildare going collectively by the name of the Bog of Allen : 
these bogs, however, are not in a continuous mass, but are 
separated by ridges of dry country, and the bogs which occur 
in the upland districts nearer the coast are in themselves un- 
dulated, and swell into hills, and descend in valleys. Indeed, 
none of the Irish bogs are upon a low level ; and this circum- 
stance led to the opinion that they were formed from ancient 
decayed forests. But many facts seem to prove that peat must 
have been formed previously to the growth of trees, and the 
more likely supposition is, that these turf-bogs have grown 
from successive layers, first of aquatic plants in shallow pools, 
and then of mosses ; the decaying mass of one layer forming 
a soil for a fresh layer of vegetation, and so gradually increas- 
ing in height and compactness. 

With a rich soil, and a moist climate which is less liable 
to severe cold and sudden changes than that of either England 
or Scotland, the natural characteristics of Green Erin are 
fertility, freshness, and verdure ; although the clouds from 



62 % THE BRITISH ISLES. 

the Atlantic which thus fertilise the land, render it by nature 
a vast grazing-ground, rather than one adapted for cultivation 
and tillage. 

VEGETATION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Our islands have no trees or plants peculiar to themselves, and 
Supposed the fact that th e whole of our flora or vegetation is similar, 
British^ w * tn one or two exceptions, to that of the neighbouring 
Flora. continent, has led to the conclusion that the British 
Isles were planted by successive migrations from the continent 
at that remote period before the sea had separated us from the 
main land, and when one unbroken continent extended from 
our shores to the Mediterranean ; that is to say, the plants on 
the continent found a congenial soil in the direction of Britain, 
and slowly, in the course of ages, before there was any sea to 
intercept their progress, spread themselves thither by the 
wafting of seeds, and other natural means of transplantation ; 
different races of plants spreading themselves, according to the 
nature of the soil, at different epochs. The period in which 
these vegetable migrations are supposed to have taken place is 
about the middle of the tertiary epoch, and, according to 
Professor Forbes, there are five different groups of plants 
in our islands which seem to have belonged to successive 
migrations. The first and most ancient group consists of 
about twelve species of plants, common to the west and south 
mountain districts of Ireland, and also to the mountain dis- 
tricts of Spain, and are found nowhere else in the British Isles. 
These species consist of some heaths, St. Patrick's cabbage, 
and the strawberry tree, Arbutus unedo (the Arbutus of Virgil), 
which forms groves of exceeding beauty at the Lakes of 
Killarney, and is well known amongst the evergreen shrubs of 
our nurseries, with its greenish-yellow blossoms and its red 
berries with their rough strawberry-like surface. 

The second group is peculiar to the south-east of Ireland 
and south-west of England, and also to the Channel Isles, and 
the French coast of Brittany and Normandy. The third group 
is on the south-west of England, where the chalk-plants 



VEGETATION. 63 

abound, and the vegetation resembles that of the opposite 
French coast. The fourth group comprises those lichens, 
mosses, grasses, and berry-bearing shrubs, such as the cran- 
berry, bilberry, and cloudberry, which are abundant in the 
Scotch Highlands and Scandinavian Alps, and are found more 
sparingly in the mountains of Cumberland, Wales, and Ireland. 
The fifth group is supposed to be the most recent, and to 
belong to a migration from Germany, while still no English 
Channel divided us from the continent. The flora peculiar 
to it spreads over the whole of the islands, and includes all 
our common trees and shrubs, weeds and wild-flowers, our 
buttercups and daisies, our primroses and celandines. So far 
as is at present known, we appear to possess only about three 
native plants, which are not equally possessed by our neigh- 
bours. These are the jointed pipewort (Eriocaulon septan- 
gular e), found in the Hebrides and west of Ireland ; the 
three-toothed cinque-foil (Potentilla tridentata), found on a 
mountain in Forfarshire; and a troublesome water-weed 
without a root (Anacharsis alsinastrum), noticed lately in the 
Trent and midland canals, where it at one time grew so rapidly 
as to obstruct navigation. The second of these, the cinque- 
foil, abounds in the Eocky mountains and Arctic regions, and 
it is thought probable that a gulf- stream may have wafted 
hither the seeds of the pipe-wort. 

A luxuriant vegetation would naturally follow from our 
moist climate and soil, and before man had encroached Forest 
to any great extent upon nature, our old forest trees Tree3, 
held lordly sway far and wide over the land. Traces are still 
seen of those vast oak forests which flourished abundantly in 
the damp clay of the valleys, and in whose thick recesses the 
ancient Britons found shelter from invading legions ; and also 
on high grounds, such as the Wiltshire Downs, remnants of 
the old giant forests are still existing. Near Hatfield, in York- 
shire, there is a singular moorland of boggy peat, several feet 
higher than the adjoining land, where, tradition says, there 
was once an immense forest, into which the Eomans, under 
Astorius, drove the Britons, and then set fire to the trees, 



64 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

destroying the whole forest, with the exception of some larger 
trees, which, being thence exposed to the wind, fell into the 
rivers and intercepted their currents, causing the waters to rise 
and flood the whole country; hence the origin of the mossy 
and moory bogs of the district. In Ireland, bogs may possibly 
in some cases have succeeded to forests, and it is a little con- 
firmatory of this supposition that in the counties of Tipperary 
and Kilkenny bogs are popularly called derries, which mean 
a place of oaks, and which name may point to some tradi- 
tional remembrance of their forest state. Dean Forest, on the 
borders of Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, is a remnant 
of what is supposed to have been the most extensive forest in 
England, and which furnished timber for most of our former 
ships of war. It seems to have stretched from the Trent and 
Avon on the north, to the Severn on the west, to the borders 
of Warwickshire and Leicestershire on the east, and to have 
included the famous Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire, 
which Eobin Hood and his merry men once made the scene of 
their robberies and revelries. The name of Arden, by which 
this immense forest was once known, is supposed to have been 
the Celtic for forest, since Ardennes occurs as the name of a 
forest in the north of France. The Forest of Dean, even in 
the last century, was twenty miles long and ten in breadth. 
New Forest, in Hampshire, although partially cleared, still 
remains as valuable property of the crown for supplying oak 
for the navy, and was first appropriated as a vast hunting- 
ground by William the Conqueror, who for the sake of it 
dispeopled thirty miles of country, pulled down thirty-six 
churches, and destroyed thirty-six parishes. 

Up to the sixteenth century we appear to have had timber 
enough in our own country for fuel and building purposes ; 
but in the time of Henry VIII. complaints begin to be made 
that i the woods become scant,' and endless acts and prohibi- 
tions were passed in this and succeeding reigns to save the 
woods and prevent the felling of trees ; for instance, that 
brewers should not be allowed to export beer, without import- 
ing enough wood or ' clapboards J to replace the barrels, and 



VEGETATION. 65 

the exportation of wine in casks was altogether prohibited. 
The employment of coal as fuel more effectually saved the 
wood, and the use of pit-coal in iron foundries seems actually 
to have prevented the iron manufacture from being transferred 
to the American colonies from the want of sufficient fuel at 
home to carry it on. 

Our supply of timber is now chiefly from abroad, and 
the increase of population and manufactures have made most 
of the old British forests little else than traditional — 
solitary giant trees and ' gospel oaks ' standing as mementos 
of their destruction. In the last century there were as 
many as sixty-eight forests remaining in England ; at the 
present time the principal are — Windsor Forest, in Berkshire ; 
Epping Forest, in Essex ; Dean Forest, in Gloucestershire ; 
New Forest, Alice Holt, Woolmer Forest and Bere Forest, in 
Hampshire ; Sherwood Forest, in Nottinghamshire ; Which - 
wood Forest,, in Oxfordshire ; the forests of Whittlebury, 
Salcey, and Eockingham, in Northamptonshire. 

Our native forest trees are mostly deciduous ; that is, their 
leaves fall in autumn. Such are the oak, elm, poplar, birch, 
beech, alder, ash, willow, maple, mountain-ash, blackthorn, 
and dog-rose ; but we have a few also that are not deciduous, 
viz., pines, firs, yews, and holly. The whole of our trees are 
exogenous; that is, their stems are composed of successive 
layers of wood and pith within the bark, a fresh layer forming 
each year outside the last year's layer, and the bark continually 
expanding to admit of the increased growth. Thus the age of 
our trees can be readily reckoned by counting the layers, the 
thick layers being supposed to represent the warm summers, 
and the thin layers the cold ones. The oldest existing trees 
whose age has been reckoned are said to be a yew at Braburu, 
in Kent, 3,000 years old, which, according to this measure- 
ment, must have been a sapling about the time of King David ; 
and also one in Tortingal, in Scotland, about 2,600 years old. 
Next to the yews, the oaks are the longest livers, and one in 
Welbeck Lane was computed to be 1,400 years old ; that is, it 



66 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

would be beginning to sprout about the time when the Romans 

were finally quitting Britain. 

Amongst the more common of the trees that have been 
Foreign imported from abroad and have become native to 
Trees. ^q so il, are the lime, cedar, walnut, chestnut, 

mulberry, larch, weeping-willow, spruce, and common or 

Lombardy poplar, and several varieties of oaks. 

FRUITS. 

Our principal native fruits are the apple, the pear, plum, 
Native currant, gooseberry, hazel-nut, the small black 
Fruits. cherry, found wild chiefly in Suffolk, the raspberry, 
beech -nut, strawberry, blackberry, bilberry, cranberry, and 
other wild berries of the class. But our common apples, pears, 
cherries, &c, are only in a few cases the offspring of the native 
varieties, and are in reality as much foreign fruits as grapes 
and peaches, having been introduced from abroad in their 
cultivated state. Thus the common hautbois strawberry is a 
native of North America ; the pine strawberry, of Surinam ; 
and we have other species from Chili, Virginia, Switzerland, 
and Flanders. The first cultivated cherries are said to have 
been introduced from Italy about 100 a.d. Lucullus brought 
them with other spoil from Armenia, and first planted cherry- 
trees in Italy, and from these trees, says Pliny, ' Italy was so 
well stocked, that in less than twenty years after they had 
spread to other lands, even as far as Britain beyond the ocean.' 
About 1415, Dr. Kitchener says that cherries were first 
planted in Ireland by Sir Walter Ealeigh, and it was his rela- 
tion Sir Hugh Piatt, who, wishing to compliment Queen 
Elizabeth ' with a conceit worthy of so delicate a knight,' 
managed with great art to keep back the fruit of his cherry- 
tree from ripening for a whole month, till just the time when 
the queen paid him a visit : a proof of the rarity of the cherry 
at that time. Of the other common fruits, apples were brought 
from Syria and North America, and many of those in general use 
at various times from the continent. The orchards in Kent are 



VEGETATION. 67 

said to have been planted by the gardener of Henry VIII., 
and many of those in Herefordshire by Lord Scudarnore, in 
the reign of Charles I. Gooseberries came from Flanders, 
currants from Canada, plums from Italy, raspberries from 
North America. Of the fruits that have been less com- 
pletely naturalised in our climate, the grape came from, Por- 
tugal, and the first vine was planted at Bloxhall, in Suffolk, 
in 1552 ; peaches came from Persia, the apricot from Epirus, 
the almond from Barbary, the fig from the south of Europe. 
The pine-apple was brought, it is said, from Brazil, in 
Charles II.'s reign, and christened by him ' King Pine.' The 
first specimen of the fruit was presented in great state to 
the monarch as he sat at table, and slices of it were gra- 
ciously handed round by himself to his courtiers; but, as 
King Pine had had a long journey, and had become stale, the 
courtiers did not think so highly of it. A picture that 
belonged to Plorace WaJpole, of Charles II. being presented 
with the first pine grown in England by Kose, his gardener, 
shews that the fruit was quickly in high esteem. 

VEGETABLES. 

Our native vegetables appear to be scarcely any besides 
carrots and parsnips, and some varieties of the Native 
cruciform genus Brassica, such as cabbages, cauli- Vegetables. 
flowers, brocoli, turnips, kales. The original wild cabbage, 
Brassica oleracea, grows on the coasts of Kent, Yorkshire, Corn- 
wall and "Wales ; brocoli and other varieties have been 
probably derived from this root by cultivation. Carrots, 
Daucus Carota, are still found wild in some sandy districts, 
and turnips, Brassica Bapa, in waste places and the borders 
of fields. 

But our foreign vegetables are of the most importance to us. 
Chief of these is the potato, brought from Virginia by Sir 
Walter Raleigh, and planted first in his own garden. His 
gardener, it is said, was rather disappointed at the Foreio . n 
flavour of the i new American fruit ' when he came Vegetables. 
to taste the potato apple, and accidentally noticed the tubers 

f2 



68 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

as he was clearing the ground in indignation at the worthless 

foreigner which his master had charged him to cultivate. A 

few years after its introduction we find the herbalist, 

Potato. J 7 

Gerarde, recommending that potatos ' be eaten sopped 

in wine ' to make them wholesome, or boiled with prunes, 

and that they i be used as a fine basis of delicate conserves and 

sweetmeats.' On better acquaintance with its more homely 

properties, the potato was sedulously cultivated, and so soon 

did the hardy root establish itself amongst us, that not long 

since it was the staple food of Ireland, and its use in England 

and Scotland is now second only to wheat, over which 

plant it has this advantage, that it will endure cold better 

and grow still farther north. 

Peas were probably introduced by the Eomans ; beans 
came from the east ; spinach is a native of Persia, but has 
been cultivated from time immemorial in our islands. Celery 
is said to have been introduced in 1704 by the French Mar- 
shal, Count Tallard, after his defeat at Blenheim, during his 
captivity in England. Artichokes are from the south of 
Europe ; lettuce from Flanders ; the common onion is thought 
to have an Egyptian origin ; asparagus grows wild in maritime 
and sandy places in the middle and south of Europe ; the 
radish is a native of China, and was introduced about 300 
years ago. 

Of the foreign vegetables important for cattle, clover was 
introduced from the Low Countries in the sixteenth century ; 
mangold wurzel, or field-beet, was introduced from Germany 
at the end of the last century, it is believed by Dr. Lettsom, 
a physician belonging to the Society of Friends. The Ger- 
mans call it mangold wurzel, which means scarcity-root, while 
the French often name it ratine oVabondance, root of plenty. 
Of our foreign plants used in manufactures, flax and hops are 
probably the most important. Flax was first planted in 
England in 1533, for the purpose of making fishing-nets. It 
is cultivated largely in Scotland, and in Ireland almost enough 
is grown to supply the immense linen manufacture there. The 
chief English counties in which it is cultivated are Somerset- 



ANIMALS. 69 

shire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. Hops came from Flanders, 
in 1524. Kent, Sussex, and Herefordshire are the chief hop- 
growing counties. 

CEREALS. 

Our cereals are wheat, oats, barley, and rye, all of which 
have been cultivated from such remote ages in most parts of 
the world that their wild originals and first localities can 
hardly be traced. Tartary and Persia are presumed to have 
been the original countries of wheat and rye, and the Caucasus 
of oats. Wheat is said to have been introduced into Britain 
in the sixth century. The largest proportion of it is grown in 
the south of England, but it is cultivated to advantage as 
far north as the Moray Firth, in Scotland. Oats are grown 
chiefly in the marshy districts of the north, and so abundantly 
in Scotland that it is said one-half of the arable land is 
employed in their cultivation ; oatmeal, either in the form of 
oat-cakes or porridge, being the principal food of the poorer 
classes. Wheat, however, is becoming more and more culti- 
vated both in Scotland and Ireland. Barley is grown chiefly 
in the north, midland, and mountainous districts. Eye is the 
least cultivated of the cereals in Great Britain. 

ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 

At the same geological period when our flora, or vegetation, 
was planted from the continent, that is, between the last of 
the tertiary epochs and the era of man's creation, and while 
our islands were as yet undivided by the sea from the conti- 
nent, our animal tribes are supposed to have also migrated 
hither. Judging from the remains of them found m the old 
strata, our fauna, that is, whole series of animals, consisted at 
one time of a far greater variety of species than it does 
now. At present, our wild quadrupeds and other mammalia 
are limited to about sixty species, belonging to the four orders 
of flesh-eating, (cnrnivora^) gnawing, (rodentia,) ru- 
minating, (ruminantia,) and whale-like (cetacea) ; 
but fossil-bones are found, not only of these, but of extinct 



70 THE BEITISH ISLES. 

pachyderms, or thick-skinned animals, — the mammoth, or 
fossil elephant, the gigantic hippopotamus of the north, some 
species of rhinoceroses, and some extinct ruminants, such as 
the gigantic deer, and the enormous elk of the Irish bogs. 
Coeval with these monsters lived the probable ancestors of the 
British horse, ass, hog, goat, deer, beaver and other well- 
known animals ; and together with these familiar acquaintance 
are found the bones of the tiger, bear, wolf and hyaena ; the 
remains of all these extinct and existing animals being found 
in a similar state in Germany ; thus indicating a migration 
from thence. But the fact that many of our lesser quadrupeds, 
such as the dormouse, mole, squirrel, pole-cat, do not belong 
also to Ireland, seems to shew that the course of migration 
was suddenly stopped short, — it is conjectured, by the rushing 
between of the ocean, and formation of the Irish Sea. 

Of the more familiar tribes that coexisted with the extinct 
monsters, some have never been known to live here in a 
natural condition, some have been extinguished by man, and 
comparatively few remain. Thus there is no record of wild 
horses and asses in our islands, although Professor Owen 
proves the fossil bones of these animals to be identical with 
existing species ; and with regard to the introduction or origin 
of our most common and useful domestic animals, the dog, the 
cow and the sheep, we have no distinct knowledge. In the 
time of Caesar, the British dogs were widely known for their 
fierceness and strength, and the Gauls are said to have used 
them in battle ; but whether they inherited their unusual 
fierceness from native wolfish progenitors, is only matter of 
conjecture. Cuvier inclines to the opinion that the common 
ox of Britain is a descendant of the formidable Urus of the 
ancients, the wild bull of the Hercynean forest, which Caesar 
describes as 'little inferior to the elephant in size, but a bull 
in its instincts, colour and figure.' Large fossil skulls of oxen 
found in recent formations in this country, seem to be identical 
with this species, while a living specimen of it is seen in the 
wild bull of Scotland, a savage and perfectly untameable 
animal, with a mane two feet long. Herds of what are called 



ANIMALS. 71 

wild cattle roam at large in some of our parks, but it is 
doubted if these can be regarded as original types, or whether 
they are not merely domesticated cattle returned to a com- 
paratively wild state. Of the origin of our sheep, we are still 
more ignorant. There is no tradition of the sheep existing 
here in a wild condition, or of its being brought hither by 
man, and it appears to have been domesticated here from the 
beginning of our historical era. The bears, wild boars, wolves, 
small wild oxen, and beavers, have been all exterminated by 
the chase, the cutting down of forests, and the cultivation of 
the soil ; and the few remaining wild quadrupeds are becoming 
more and more rare from the same causes ; foxes are now 
scarce, and wild cats are only occasionally found in the woods 
of Ireland and of the north of Scotland. 

Our wild carnivora or flesh- eating mammals at present 
consist of the fox, weasel, polecat, ermine, marten, foumart, 
hedgehog, mole, shrew, badger, otter, walrus and seal, and of 
nine kinds of bats. Our rodents or gnawing animals are the 
hare, rabbit, squirrel, dormouse, two kinds of rats, three of 
mice, and four of moles. Our wild ruminants are the goat, 
and three kinds of deer, the red, roe, and fallow. Our cetacea 
are very rare, but comprise whales and dolphins, porpoises, 
grampuses, and sea-cows. 

Birds abound in the British Isles. Of the 490 species 
which belong to Europe, there are 274 species in 
England and Scotland, and 230 in Ireland. They 
are supposed to have migrated from the continent during the 
same epoch as the plants and mammals ; and here again we 
have evidence of some obstruction to the progress of migration 
before it reached Ireland ; since many birds of short flight 
that are indigenous in Great Britain, are not found in the 
sister country. The British birds belong to all the six orders : 
of the Birds of Prey there are the golden eagle, earne, kite, 
falcon, hawk, goshawk, sparrow -hrwk, merlin, kestrel, buzzard, 
and owl. Of the Climbers there are the cuckoo, woodpecker, 
kingfisher, hoopoo, goatsucker. Of the Songsters, there are 
the lark, nightingale, thrush, bullfinch, linnet, redbreast, 



72 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

hedge sparrow, wren, nut-hatch, white-throat, titling, bunting, 
and cross-bill. Our Gallinaceous, or game birds, are so nu- 
merous, that the atrocity of eating the singing birds is not 
perpetrated so generally here as in southern Europe, where 
game is more scarce ; they include the partridge, pigeon, 
quail, blackcock, ptarmigan, and red grouse, which last is 
peculiar to the country. Our turkeys and peacocks and 
pheasants, common fowl and guinea fowl, are all foreigners. 
Of the Waders there are the plover, snipe, heron, crane, crake, 
bustard, and stork. Of the Swimmers, the duck, goose, gull, 
gannet, petrel, cormorant, puffin, auk, widgeon, teal, tern, 
and guillemot. Some of our commonest birds are migratory, 
such as the cuckoo and swallow, which visit us in summer, 
and the snipe, fieldfare, woodcock, redwing, and a few water- 
birds, which come to us from still colder climates in winter 
time. 

Reptiles do not much favour these islands, and we have but 
fourteen species out of the seventy-three European 
ones. Notwithstanding the giants of the Saurian or 
lizard race that inhabited the soil in pre-adamite ages, our 
saurian specimens now are very insigniiicant,and consist only of 
two kinds of lizards, and one scinque. Of the serpent tribe, 
we have only three : the blind-worm, snake, and common 
viper. Of the Batrachians there are seven specimens, two 
of toads, two of frogs, and three of newts. Ireland has but fire 
species of reptiles, a lizard, a toad, a frog, and two tritons ; 
but the common toad and viper are absent. 

Entomologists have already made acquaintance with 10,000 
Articulated species of British insects, and their new discoveries 
Animals. are ra p^jy increasing. Of moths and butterflies 
alone there are 2,000 species, and the other 8,000 comprise 
the varieties of the bee, fly, dragon-fly, gnat, beetle, earwig, 
bug, flea, louse, and centipede. Of the Arachnids we have two 
kinds — the spider and the ±3.te; two of the Cirrhopoda — the 
barnacle and balanus ; two of the Crustacea — the lobster and 
crab ; two of the Annulata — the leech and the earth-worm. 



ANIMALS. 73 

There. are 263 species of fish in our seas, rivers, and lakes. 
These are divided into two kinds — the osseous and Fishes. 
the cartilaginous. Of the osseous order there are a vast 
number, comprising the salmon, cod, trout, sole, turbot, eel, 
mackerel, herring — of which the herrings, probably, are the 
most numerous, since they inhabit the deep waters all round 
the British coast. Of the cartilaginous order there are but 
few — such as the sturgeon, skate, dog-fish,, lamprey, shark. 

Three hundred and ninety- two kinds of shell- fish are found 
in the British seas; 282 univalves and 160 bi- Molluscs. 
valves. The naked molluscs are also very numerous. 



74 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

CHAPTEE III. 

GEOGKAPHY OF THE ADJACENT ISLES. 

On looking at a map of the British Isles, two circumstances at 
once strike us with regard to the small adjacent islands — first, 
their almost entire absence from the east coast of all three 
countries ; and secondly, their distribution along the whole 
line of the north and west, from the Shetlands to the south of 
Ireland ; thus producing, by the distance of the Shetlands 
from Scotland, one side of the scalene triangular figure, which 
the British Isles may be said to represent. The peculiar 
distribution of these islands, especially in Scotland, would 
seem to suggest that some mighty blow or convulsion had 
shattered the whole west coast, scattering some of the frag- 
ments to a distance, merely splitting off others, and leaving 
others only half detached ; but the more philosophical view is 
that these islands are but the highest points appearing above 
the ocean of what was once part of the main land, and now 
partially submerged : and accordingly it is found that the 
geological character of the islands generally corresponds to 
that of the portion of coast to which they are nearest. The 
number of these islands is computed at about 5,500, of which 
500* belong to Great Britain, and 5,000 to Ireland. But a 
large proportion are mere rocks, and only about 420 are 
inhabited — 245 of these being adjacent to Ireland, and 175 to 
Great Britain. 

ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. 

Of the larger islands, by far the greater number belong to 

Scotland, where the islands are arranged into three groups — 

the Shetlands, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides, or Western 

Isles. The Shetlands are the most northerly and 

remote of the adjacent isles, extending to 60° 50' 

* Mackay's Manual of Geography. According to a late census, how- 
ever, Scotland alone has 787. 






ADJACENT ISLES. 75 

north latitude. The cluster consists of about 90 islands, 25 of 
which are inhabited — the others being mere masses of rock 
or patches of land, on which cattle are pastured. The Main- 
land is the largest, about 60 miles long, and from 3 to 10 
broad ; the next largest are Yell and Unst, and the most 
considerable of the islets are Fetlar, Whalsey, Bressay, Papa- 
Stour, Meikle-Koe, Burra, Foula, and Fair Isle ; the whole 
archipelago being so connected as to give the appearance, 
when seen from the sea, of one continuous line of jagged 
coast. One island alone is situated far from the group — the 
island of Foula, which, from its high hills, is a prominent 
object in the northern seas ; and this isle is supposed to have 
been the Ultima Thule of the ancients, mentioned by Tacitus 
in his Life of Agricola. Perhaps Sir Walter Scott's story of 
the ' Pirate ' has given to English readers their most distinct 
idea of Shetland — where in summer i the sun rises so early as 
hardly to think it worth while to go to bed ; ' and where the 
winter lasts from October to April ; and has made visible to us 
its grand and towering cliffs and headlands, its dark and lofty 
caverns, its almost treeless but still beautiful interior, and the 
wild aspect of the country corresponding to the wild storms 
that lash its coasts. The climate is variable, damp, cold, and 
healthy. Primary rocks, gneiss interspersed with granite and 
trap, compose the northern portion of the group, and De- 
vonian strata the southern. Chromate of iron is the only 
mineral of much value. The surface is healthy and moun- 
tainous, and with difficulty the soil has been made suitable 
for agriculture. Wheat does not flourish there, and only the 
commonest kinds of barley and oats. All the domestic 
animals are exceedingly diminutive, but they seem to make 
up in strength for their want of size. The little Shetland 
ponies are turned loose upon the hill pastures to find a living, 
and are never provided with shelter. The little native sheep 
have a degree of alertness and intelligence not found generally 
to belong to the sheep nature. They weigh only about 30 lbs* 
each ; and the long-horned Shetland cow, which weighs at 
the utmost 3 cwt., never yields more than three quarts of 
milk per day. But the prosperity of Shetland depends 



76 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

mainly on its fisheries. Cod, ling, and tusk abound in the 
open seas ; and coal-fish and herrings swarm about the shore ; 
great numbers of seals are caught in the deep caverns of the 
coast, and a species of whale called ' Bottle-noses f approach 
near enough to the islands in pursuit of the herrings to afford 
sport to the inhabitants, as well as abundance of oil. 

The Orkneys, the ancient Orcades, are separated from the 
north point of Scotland by the stormy strait of Pentland 
Firth ; and, from the similarity of their geological 
formation to that of the neighbouring coast, seem to be a broken 
continuation of the county of Caithness. The group consists 
of 67 islands, 27 of which are inhabited, and the rest are 
either holms, that is, mere pasture grounds, or else barren 
rocks, called skerries. The chief island, Pomona / or Main- 
land, is about 18 miles long, and divides the islets to the 
north, called the North Isles, from those on the south, called 
the South Isles. The whole group is composed of the old red 
sandstone formations, with the exception of one small granite 
district in Pomona; and one of the mountains in the island of 
Hoy, called Wart Hill, or, as some of the country people 
call it, the Enchanted Carbuncle, is an object of curiosity, 
from its summit, 1,620 feet high, shining and sparkling in a 
singular manner, owing to some unexplained cause, when seen 
from a distance. From exposure to the Atlantic, the climate 
of the Orkneys is wet rather than cold, and the soil better 
adapted to the rearing of cattle than to agriculture ; and, like 
Shetland, the fisheries, especially the cod and herring, are the 
most valuable branch of industry. A great source of profit 
on these shores used to be the kelp manufacture, or produc- 
tion of a coarse alkali from burnt sea-weed, used in the manu- 
facture of soap and common glass ; but the duty having been 
taken off a foreign alkali better suited to the purpose, this 
trade has been abandoned. 

The Hebrides, or Western Isles, called by Pliny Hehudes, 
consist of two groups of islands, the Outer Hebrides, 
or Long Island, situated on the north-west of Scot- 
land, between 55° 35' and 59° north latitude ; and the Inner 









ADJACENT ISLES. 77 

Hebrides, a scattered series of islands lying close along the 
west coast. Long Island is divided from Scotland and the 
Inner Hebrides by a wide strait, called The Minsh ; but there 
is sufficient evidence of its having formed at some remote 
period a part of the mainland, from the primary gneiss rocks 
of which it is composed, and from its position, which corres- 
ponds with the direction of the mountain chains in the north 
of Scotland. The chief islands in this group are Lewis and 
Harris, the largest island in Scotland, sixty miles long ; North 
Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Barra, and St. Kilda. The 
principal islands of the Inner Hebrides are Skye, Raasay, 
Eona, Rum, Eig, in Inverness-shire ; and Mull, Coll, Tiree, 
lona, Colonsay, Islay, Jura, Scarba, Arran, and Bute, off the 
coast of Argyllshire. These are more mountainous in their 
character than Long Island, and lying west of the trap- 
rocks of Mull is the basaltic islet of Staffa, with its splendid 
specimens of Nature's architecture, its arched columns and 
caverns, its erect pillars and angular pavements, displaying 
with marvellous effect the regular crystal-like structure of the 
old igneous rocks. Fingal's cave, the most picturesque of 
these caverns, measures in length 370 feet, while the height 
of the arch at its entrance is 117 feet. 

The Hebrides are about 160 in number, 70 of which 
are inhabited. They are naturally destitute of trees, and the 
greater part of their surface consists of mountains, lakes, and 
morasses. Agriculture is consequently not flourishing, and, 
as the chief subsistence is gained by fishing and kelp-burning, 
most of the population reside within a mile of the shore. 

There are a few detached islands not included in these three 
groups. For instance, Stroma, between Caithness and the 
Orkneys ; Handa, a small and rarely accessible islet off the 
coast of Sutherland, the cliff scenery of which is said to surpass 
in magnificence all other in Great Britain ; Fair Isle, lying 
east between the Shetlands and Orkneys ; and Bell Rock, a 
dangerous ridge of rocks in the Firth of Tay, notable now for 
its lighthouse, and formerly for the bell, which tradition says 



78 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

the monks of Aberbrothock placed there for the waves to rino- 
as they dashed upon it, to warn the mariner of his danger. 

ISLANDS OF ENGLAND. 

There are but few islands belonging to England, and, with the 
isle of exception of the Scilly and Channel Isles, no clusters 
Man ' of importance. The largest and most prominent is 
the Isle of Man, which lies in the middle of the Irish Sea, 
at nearly an equal distance from the three kingdoms, and gives 
the unavoidable impression of being the last visible spot of 
submerged land that once joined Great Britain with Ireland. 
This impression is confirmed by its slaty formation, which is 
similar to that of the English and Irish portions of coast which 
lie nearest to it. The distance of Man from the nearest point 
of England is twenty-eight miles, from Ireland thirty-two, 
and from Scotland sixteen. Its length is thirty-four miles, 
and its breadth from eight to thirteen. Three chains of moun- 
tains, composed entirely of mica slate and clay slate, run 
north-east and south-west nearly the whole length of the 
isle, from the tops of which, on a clear day, all the three 
Britannic kingdoms may be seen. The climate is mild, but 
changeable, stormy and damp, and harvests late. The valleys 
are fertile, but the hilly parts fit only for pasturage. Of late 
years, the state of agriculture and husbandry has been much 
improved ; but formerly the herring-fisheries so occupied the 
men that the labours of the field were left entirely to the 
women. To the south of Man is a small island called the Calf 
of Man, about three miles in circumference. It is doubted 
whether the name Man be derived from the Saxon mang, 
among, or from the name of Mona, which the ancients seem to 
have given to it in common with the Isle of Anglesea. The 
chief town is Castle ton. 

Anglesey, or Anglesea, the Mona of the Eomans, the Yuys- 

y-Cedeirn, or Island of Heroes of the Celts, the 

g esey. ^g^'g £y ? Englishman's Island of the Angle -Saxon, 

is separated by the narrow strait of the Menai from the north- 



ADJACENT ISLES. 79 

west point of Wales. At Pwll Ceris, traces are thought to be 
discovered of an isthmus that once united the island with the 
mainland, and there is evidence that the channel itself is now 
wider than formerly. Connected with Anglesey by a narrow 
sandy strait is the Isle of Holyhead, which projects from the 
west-coast in a north-west direction. The sea breezes render the 
climate milder in Anglesey than in the rest of Wales, although 
the air is damp and misty. The surface is flat ; the soil 
mostly a stiff loam, which produces excellent crops of potatoes, 
oats and barley, but less of wheat. In the lower lands the soil 
is a kind of black peat, used as fuel, in which are found hard 
and black trunks of old forest trees ; and one of its old Celtic 
names, Ynys Dowell, the Shady or Dark Island, shews that 
forest trees abounded once, and we are told that the Druids 
consecrated its many groves to the observance of their peculiar 
rites. Anglesey is rich in minerals. Copper mines are 
worked in the Parys Mountain, and also lead ore and silver 
are found ; and in various parts marbles, limestone, millstone, 
and coal. The position of the coal-measures are unusual, and 
large boulders of it, of more than a ton weight, are found in one 
place lying about the surface, and are supposed to have been 
carried there by the action of water. Fish are plentiful on the 
coasts. The Anglesey sheep, which have white faces and legs, 
and no horns, are the largest native breed in North Wales. 
Cattle are reared very extensively. The chief towns are 
Holyhead, Beaumaris, Amlwch, AberfTraw, and Llangefni. 
Some smaller islands stud the sea above Anglesey and Holy- 
head ; the largest of them is Priestholm, or Puffin Island, so 
called from its principal inhabitants. 

The Scilly Isles are a compact group of islands, 140 in 
number, lying about thirty miles south-west of the 
Land's End, Cornwall. They now chiefly consist of 
uninhabited rocks, but there is reason to believe that the sea 
has encroached considerably upon them, even within the 
period of history, reducing their size, and separating them 
from the mainland. A writer of the sixteenth century says : 
c It doth appear yet by good record, that whereas now there is 



80 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

great distance between the Scyllan Isles and point of the Land's 
End, there was of late years to speak of scarcely a brooke or 
drain of one fathom water between them, if so much, as by 
those evidences appeareth that are yet to be seen in the lands of 
the lord and chief owner of those isles ; ' and Diodorus Siculus, 
in explaining the manner in which the inhabitants of Corn- 
wall prepared their tin for exportation, says that they con- 
veyed it in wheeled carriages over a space which is dry at 
low water, to the neighbouring isle of Ictis; referring with 
every probability to one of the Scilly Isles. This opinion is 
confirmed by the circumstance, that although the islands 
themselves are composed of granite, there appears to be a 
softer limestone stratum between them and the Land's End, 
from the occurrence of a limestone rock in the passage called 
the Wolf; and the islands are even now gradually lessening, 
from the decomposition and washing away of the granite. 
That they are the relics of a once connected tract of land is 
also probable from the fact that the sea, although deep around 
the group, is but shallow between the isles. 

Only six of these islands are inhabited : St. Mary's, the 
largest, about eight miles in circumference ; Fresco, St. 
Martin's, St. Agnes, Bryher, and Sampson. The climate is 
mild, but very liable to fogs and storms. The soil is mostly 
a black peat, mixed with particles of granite ; but corn and 
potatoes thrive in it, and most English vegetables. Timber- 
trees there are none, and only a few fruit-trees in one sheltered 
spot in St. Mary's. Horses, cattle, and sheep are small, and 
of inferior quality, probably owing to the poverty of the 
pasture, which consists of thin, short grass, mixed with heath 
and furze ; the cattle having to make up the deficiency by 
eating sea-weed. Small sharks and porpoises occasionally 
visit the coasts. Hugh Town, in St. Mary's, is the capital of 
the group. The islands belong to the duchy of Cornwall, and 
have been held on lease by different owners. 

The Isle of Wight, the Vectis of the Romans, forms part 
isle of wight, of the county of Hampshire, from which it is 
separated by a narrow channel, the Solent, the average width 



ADJACENT ISLES. 81 

of which is less than four miles. The greatest length of the 
island, from the Foreland on the east to the Needles' Cliff on 
the west, is scarcely twenty-three miles ; and its shortest 
diameter, from W est Cowes on the north to St. Catherine's 
Point on the south, about thirteen miles. This pleasant little 
garden of England, with its green valleys, wooded slopes, and 
magnificent cliffs, perhaps tells more, in a short space, of 
primeval convulsion and geological changes than any other 
portion of Britain, owing to some remarkable peculiarities in 
its structure. The island itself is at an unusual height above 
the level of the sea, giving height and grandeur to its precipi- 
tous cliffs ; and its structure mainly consists of a high ridge 
of chalk running east and west, and forming, as it were, the 
backbone of the island from Culver Cliff to the east of the 
Needles. These detached masses of chalk are supposed to 
have been at one time a continuous portion of the central 
ridge, and to have been broken up by the action of the 
elements ; and the name of Needles was given to them from 
the form of one of the group, a spiral rock 120 feet high, 
which was undermined by the waves and fell into the sea in 
1764. The peculiarity of this chalk ridge is the almost 
vertical position of its strata, which can be well seen at their 
broken section at Culver Cliff and White Cliff Bay, and at the 
Needles' Cliff and Alum Bay. The disturbing force which 
originally upheaved these strata into their upright position 
has been traced as far as Abbotsbury in Dorsetshire. This 
unusual position of the chalk exhibits admirably the two 
series of rocks belonging to the secondary and tertiary epochs, 
between which the chalk is the intermediate link. Thus, the 
lower part of the south and south-east sides of the island is 
composed of the rocks which lie below the chalk, viz. green- 
sandstone, marl, and iron-sands ; while the north side consists 
of eocene strata lying above the chalk, viz. the London clays 
and series of formations which belong to what is called 
the chalk basin of the Isle of Wight. And what is remark- 
able about these eocene strata is that they lie horizontally 
upon the broken edges of the perpendicular chalk strata, thus 



82 THE BEITISH ISLES. 

showing that they were deposited after the convulsion that 
uplifted the chalk. At Headon Hill, on the north side of 
Alum Bay, there are sections of three strata, lying close 
together, which bear record of strange geological changes : 
these are, two fresh water deposits on each side of a marine 
deposit, which appear to indicate that this part of the island 
was once the bottom of a lake, then that it was covered with 
the sea, and then again became a freshwater lake. 

On the south side, the beautiful natural terraces of the 
UnderclhT have been caused by the different degrees of 
solidity in the secondary rocks underlying the chalk. The 
strata here are in a horizontal position, and the marl being 
dissolved into mud by the land-springs, leaves unsupported 
the chalk and greensands above it, which consequently fall 
and transform the steep cliffs into broken slopes. The north 
side of the island is lower than the south, and the highest 
point is St. Catherine's Hill, 830 feet above the sea- 
level. 

The rivers are the Medina, which rises near St. Catherine's, 
and runs north into the Solent, forming a wide estuary 
between East and West Cowes ; the Eastern Yar, which rises 
in the same hills and flows into the English Channel through 
Brading Haven ; and the Western Yar, which is an estuary 
nearly its whole length of three miles, and which rising near 
Freshwater Gate, and emptying into the sea at Yarmouth, 
almost severs the land, and forms a peninsula of the western 
point of the island. The basins of these rivers form the three 
principal depressions in the chalk range, the valley of the 
Eastern Yar being the most extensive. 

The north is the most wooded side, the clayey soil being 
favourable to the growth of trees, especially the oak; and 
large forests existed here formerly. The rich red loam of the 
south is better adapted for cultivation and pasture, and the 
yield of wheat is larger than in any other part of the king- 
dom. Sheep are fed upon the downs in great numbers, but 
oxen are not extensively reared. The seas abound in shell- 
fish, but not much in other kinds. 



ADJACENT ISLES. 83 

The Norman or Channel Islands lie in St. Michael's Bay, 
on the north-west coast of France. The principal are Channel 
Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark. Isles - 

Jersey, the Caesar ea of the Eomans, is eighty-four miles 
distant from Portland, and eighteen from the coast of Normandy, 
and measures about twelve miles from east to west, and about 
seven in breadth. The island slopes from north to south, and 
consequently the rivers flow and the valleys lie in this direc- 
tion. The high rocks to the north are composed of a kind of 
granite called Syenite, because identical with the granite of 
Syene in Egypt ; but the southern side has a schistose or slaty 
structure. The climate is warmer than that of other places in 
the same latitude, Xho, mean temperature being 52° 5'. Wheat 
and potatoes thrive abundantly, and fruits of all kinds, especi- 
ally apples and pears. Of the animals, the horses are small, 
and the sheep few, but the breeding of cows, principally of 
the Alderney kind, is the great source of profit. 

About eighteen miles north-west of Jersey is Guernsey, an 
island of granitic formation, of about thirty miles in circum- 
ference. The highest part of the island is in the south, 
where the cliffs are lofty and precipitous; in the north, the 
shore is low, and the land level. Valleys and glens intersect 
the higher grounds, and the surface is well watered with 
rivulets and springs. The produce of the soil is much the 
same as in Jersey, but trees are more scarce, and cultivation 
less advanced. The cows are larger here than in Jersey, 
and are as important to the wealth of the islanders. Swine 
also grow to an unusual size, and are very numerous. The 
coasts abound in fish, and here is caught the ormer, a 
shell-fish peculiar to these Channel Isles, resembling, when 
cooked, a veal-cutlet. The mean temperature of Guernsey is 
about two degrees lower than Jersey. 

Alderney, or Aurigny, the Arinea of the Eomans, lies 
fifteen miles north-east of Guernsey, and about seven from 
the French coast of Normandy. The island is about four 
miles long and about one and a quarter broad, and slopes 
to the north-east. It is difficult of approach on account of 

G 2 



84 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

the many rocks encircling it, and the violent sea-currents 
about its shores. Indeed, it is supposed that its ancient 
Latin name might denote ' Isle of the Kace,' or Current, 
the Eace of Alderney being now a dangerous strait that 
separates it from France. The land of Alderney for the 
most part stands high. In fertility it is superior to Guern- 
sey and Jersey ; and the renown of its superior breed of cows 
has made the name of their native island familiar in every 
farm in Britain. 

Sark, Serk, or Sercq, is a dependency of Guernsey, and 
lies about seven miles east of that island. The length is only 
three miles, and its greatest width only one and a half; but 
near the centre it is so narrow as almost to be cut in two, the 
smaller portion being called Little Sark. From the sea it has 
the appearance of an elevated rock with a flat summit, and it 
is so entirely begirt with high cliffs, that the only means of 
entering the island is either by clambering up the rocks, or by 
mounting up through a tunnel cut in the cliff at the north- 
east. The east of the island is granite, the west, trap and 
slate. The slope is towards the east. The interior is diver- 
sified with woods, valleys, and streams ; the soil is fertile, and 
the climate unusually healthy. Cattle and hogs are a size 
larger here than in Guernsey. Fishing is a chief occupation 
of the inhabitants, who are said to be more flourishing than 
those of the other islands. Many lesser isles and rocks belong 
to this group. Herm and Jethon are very small but inhabited 
islands belonging to Guernsey, and a cluster of rocks called 
the Caskets, including St. Peter, St. Thomas, and Donjon, lie 
west of Alderney, and have each a light-house. The impor- 
tations into the United Kingdom from the Channel Islands are 
on the increase as regards wine, tobacco, eggs, chestnuts, and 
butter ; and on the decrease as regards apples, cider, and 
potatoes. 

Holy Isle, or Lindisfarne, the 7ms Medicante of the Britons, is 

Holy a small island of less than two square miles in area, in 

island. t j ie Q erman Ocean, off the north-east coast of Nor-* 

thumb erland, A large sand-bank, called Fenham Flats, joins it 



ADJACENT ISLES. 85 

to the mainland at low water, and a narrow strip of land, overrun 
with rabbits, projects into the sea at the north-east of the island, 
from which may be seen the tide flowing on one side and ebbing 
on the other. The island was once the seat of a bishopric, and 
afterwards of a monastery belonging to the Benedictines of 
Durham, the ruins of which remain, and which are made 
memorable by the old legend of St. Cuthbert's Holy Corpse, 
which Scott has woven into his romance of ' Marmion.' * 
Small as it is, the island has its village or town, its harbour, 
and ancient castle. About half the surface is cultivated, the 
rest is mere sand. 

Sheppy and Thanet form part of Kent, and are scarcely to 
be regarded as islands in the usual sense of the term, sheppyand 
since they are divided from the mainland merely by Thanet - 
rivers ; Sheppy by a branch of the Medway, and Thanet by 
the meeting of two arms of the Stour. Sheppy is situated in 
the estuary of the Thames, and is about six miles long by four 
in breadth. The south is low and marshy, but on the north 
are clay cliffs about eighty feet high, which afford an interesting 
illustration of the rapid encroachment of the sea upon the 
land. A church at Minter, which half a century ago was 
said to be in the centre of the island, is now close upon the 
coast ; and Sir Charles Lyell states that as much as fifty acres 
had been lost by the decay of the cliff during that time ; it 
being computed that at the present rate of destruction the 
whole island would be annihilated in another fifty years. The 
*coast which lies intermediate between Sheppy and Thanet also 
shows the work of the waves, Heme Bay having lost its two 
headlands, and being now no longer a bay, but a straight 
surface ; and east of Thanet still stands the old church of 
Eeculver, now on the edge of the steep cliff, protected from 
the waves by stones and wooden piles ; while so late as 1781, 
it stood so far away from the shore that an ancient chapel, a 
graveyard, and a cottage were between it and the cliff. The 
average waste on the coast of Thanet has been reckoned at 

* Cantos II. XIV. 



86 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

two feet per annum. The marshy channel which now sepa- 
rates Thanet from the mainland, was navigable in the time of 
the Romans, and their fleets sailed along it to and from London. 
About the time of the Conquest it appears to have become 
shallower, but so late as the time of Henry VIII. it floated 
ships of considerable burthen. High chalk cliffs bound the 
north and north-east of Thanet, and extend from the North 
Foreland through Margate, Broadstairs, and Ramsgate to 
Pegwell Bay, the south-east boundary of the island. The 
area of Thanet is about forty square miles. 

There seems a probability that the Goodwin Sands, which 
Goodwin lie about seven miles east of Kent, are the remains 
Sands. Q j> ^^^ was once an island or continuation of the 
land, and not merely banks of sand ; since in boring through 
the sand to attempt the erection of a lighthouse, a bed 
of solid blue clay was found at the depth of fifteen feet. 
Tradition says that here resided Earl Goodwin, father of King 
Harold, but that a flood overwhelmed and washed away his 
estates in 1099. 

There are several detached pieces of land about the coast of 
England which are generally included amongst its islands, 
although some are so little separated from the mainland as to 
be connected with it by causeways ; such as the marshy flat 
islands of Canvey, Foulness, Mersey, and some others, off the 
coast of Essex. Others are very small, or mere lighthouse 
stations, the chief of which are, the Feme Isles and Coquet 
Isles, off Northumberland ; the Eddy stone Rock, in the Eng- 
lish Channel, about twelve miles from Plymouth Sound, where 
stands the most celebrated lighthouse of modern times, from 
its wonderful power of resistance to the swells of the Atlantic 
and the Bay of Biscay ; Lundy Isle, in the Bristol Channel ; 
Caldy, Skomer, and Ramsey, off Pembrokeshire ; Bardsey, in 
Carnarvonshire ; and Walney Isle, in Lancashire. 

ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 

A characteristic of the Irish islands is that they are less 
frequently congregated in clusters than is the case with those 



ADJACENT ISLES. 87 

of Britain. The largest is Acliil (signifying Eagle), situated 
west of Mayo. It is. a mass of mica slate, of an angular form; 
the surface boggy, barren, and wild in the extreme, with 
mountains at the north 2,000 feet high, and at one point on 
the west the cliff descends abruptly from the highest part of 
the island down to a depth of 2,208 feet : only a small part 
is cultivated. Of the other islands, the principal are Clare 
Isles, Innisbofin, Garomna, west of Connaught; the South 
Arran Isles, in Galway Bay ; Blasket Isles, and Valencia, west 
of Kerry, notable as having been the eastern terminus of the 
American submarine telegraph ; Great Bear Isle and Cape 
Clear, south-west of Cork ; Eathlin Isle, north of Antrim ; 
Tory Isle, where are said to live the most primitive people in 
the United Kingdom ; and the North Isles of Arran, west of 



88 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



CHAPTER IV. 

RACES OF MEN — LANGUAGES RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 

The best evidence as to the origin of a people is that which is 
afforded by the earliest traces of them which are visible and 
existing ; by the relics they have left us, the features of their 
descendants, or the derivation of their language. The next 
most reliable evidence is that derived from the records of con- 
temporaries who had no motive for mis-statement — neither 
the vanity of native historians, nor the jealousy of foreign 
ones. For instance, when Raphael Holinshed, the English 
annalist of the sixteenth century, tells us in his i History of 
England ' that our island received its name of Albion from the 
giant Albion, the son of Neptune, who took the island from 
Origin of the Celts, after they had occupied it above 300 years 
the people. imc [er ^he sovereignty of five kings, the first of 
whom was Samothes, the eldest son of Japhet, whom Moses 
calls Meshech — we see only an indifferent fairy-tale, and a 
species of patriotic vanity very common to chroniclers in un- 
enlightened times ; and we gather less from his account than 
from the word Albion itself, which, meaning White Island, at 
least tells us that it was probably so named by those who saw 
it first from the south-east, and to whom the chalk cliffs of 
Kent would appear glistening white on the horizon of the sea. 
Again, when Geoffrey ap Arthur, Bishop of St. Asaph in the 
twelfth century, makes Brutus and his Trojans to have been 
the first inhabitants of Britain, after the giants over whom 
Gog Magog was king — which chronicle we find Edward L, in 
a letter to Pope Boniface', adducing as an argument for the 
supremacy of England over Scotland — we see only here the 
ambitious wish of the English to trace their origin to the same 
source as that of their Roman conquerors, and especially the 
wish of the bishop to connect his nation with the ecclesiastical 



RACES OF MEN. 89 

centre of Eome. Very different to these are the matter-of- 
fact statements of the Greek and Eoman writers, who, by 
recording what they actually saw and heard in their own day, 
have so far left the field of research clear of fable. Thus the 
Greek historian Herodotus, in the fifth century B.C., makes 
the first plain reference extant to these islands, although but 
a dim and negative one : — l Nor am I acquainted with the 
islands Cassiterides, from which tin is brought to us.' And 
next Aristotle, a hundred years later, speaks of two large 
islands in the west, Albion and Ierne ; and after the coming 
of an eye-witness in Julius Cassar, we gain the first distinct 
impressions of the islands and their inhabitants. 

With respect to the best sort of evidence of origin — that which 
exists in a nation itself — our country presents peculiar difficul- 
ties. It is comparatively easy to describe the general character- 
istics of races who have inhabited from remote periods the same 
localities, and been subject to the same influences, and have 
ming]ed little with other nations. Thus, if we were to say of 
the Negro that his hair was woolly, his skin black, his nose 
fiat, and his lips thick ; or of the Chinese, that his eyes were 
small, black and slanting, his cheek-bones prominent, his 
hair black and lank, and his chin beardless ; these definitions 
would apply with tolerable accuracy to the mass of the two 
people. But how should we define an Englishman ? His eyes 
may be black, blue, brown, or grey ; his nose all shapes from 
the Eoman to the snub ; his hair all shades from black to 
flaxen ; his proportions all styles from the Adonis to the John 
Bull; his temperament all degrees from the extreme of 
excitable to the utmost phlegmatic; and in mental qualities 
he is still more difficult to define in general terms. So many 
races have poured into these islands, bringing with them the 
most opposite tendencies, features, and influences, and have 
so crossed and mingled and transformed one another, that 
scarcely anywhere could \ a true Briton ' be found — if, indeed, 
the riddle were ever completely solved what a true Briton is. 

Uncertain as are all sources of information with respect to 
the real aborigines of Britain, the following seems to be the 



90 THE BEITISH ISLES. 

most accredited account of the peopling of these islands. Two 
branches of the great Indo-European family — the Celtic and 
the Teutonic — gradually overspread Europe from the East. 
The general characteristics of these two types of men, as given 
in l Johnston's Physical Atlas,' are as follows : — Celtic : dark, 
sallow complexion ; dark eyes and black hair ; skull elongated 
from front to back ; forehead, oval ; temperament, bilious ner- 
vous ; stature, moderate ; make, slender, with small hands 
and feet; disposition, brave, romantic, superstitious, temperate, 
sociable, improvident and impulsive, quick in apprehension, 
but deficient in depth. Teutonic : fair complexion, light hair, 
large bluish eyes ; skull, large and round ; forehead, broad ; 
make, strong, tall, and often clumsy, with a tendency to cor- 
pulence ; temperament, sanguine and phlegmatic prevailing, 
slow, reasoning, intellectual, overbearing, enterprising, inde- 
pendent, patriotic, cleanly, inclined to gourmandise and 
intemperance. Of these two races, the Teutons being the 
stronger both bodily and mentally, their destiny seems to have 
been to prevail and increase, while that of the Celts has 
been to yield before them and decrease ; and, as will be seen, 
such has been the law with respect to Teuton and Celt in our 
own islands as well as in the rest of Europe. 

In the course of migration westward, two hostile sections of 
the Celts — the Gael and the Cymri — successively 
swarmed into these islands ; the Gael spreading 
themselves, or perhaps being driven by the stronger Cymri, 
into Ireland, the north of Scotland, the Hebrides, and the 
Isle of Man; the Cymri settling in all Britain south of the 
Grampians. The Gaelic was thus the original stock of the 
native Highland, the native Irish or Erse, and the Manx. It 
is true that in Ireland there exist dim traces of a civilisation 
long prior to this arrival of the Celts, and there are various 
theories as to the original peopling of Ireland by the Phoeni- 
cians, or Milesians, or Iberians ; but, however this may have 
been, there seems no evidence that within the period of 
authentic history the Irish were in any more advanced state 
of civilisation than the British. 



RACES OF MEN. 91 

Evidence of the early occupation of these islands by Celtic 
tribes is found in the language, since the oldest names of 
places and natural objects are all Celtic ; and it is found also 
in the most ancient monuments and remains, such as the 
relics of the Celtic worship of the Druids, the cromlechs or 
sepulchral chambers, the Druidical circles of which Stone- 
henge is a specimen ; all which mementos are found most 
abundantly in Wiltshire, Cornwall, Anglesea, and the Channel 
Isles. The purest specimens of the Celtic race exist in Corn- 
wall, Wales, the Scilly Isles, the Isle of Man, and Ireland. 

While Celtic tribes peopled the country from the south 
and south-east, Teuton emigrants appear to have m x . 

7 ° Jrx Teutonic. 

thronged in from the north-east and east — Norwe- 
gians and Danes from Scandinavia, and Skyths from Scythia — 
who, mixing largely with the Highland Gaels, added the 
Teuton element now visible in the blue eyes and reddish hair 
prevalent in the Highlands, and especially planted themselves 
in Ulster in the north of Ireland, where their powerful nature 
so gave them the predominance over the Celts, that they 
imposed their own name for a time over the whole island, and 
Ireland for a long period was called Scotia, after these Skyths or 
Scots. (The name of Scotia was transferred to Scotland when 
the Irish Scots established themselves there in the eleventh 
century.) 

About 200 or 300 b. c, another Teutonic race — the Picts 
— probably from Denmark or Germany, settled themselves 
in the north and north-east, and finally in the south of 
Scotland. These Picts appear to have been on friendly terms 
with the Irish Scots, and obtained wives from them, since the 
Celtic Britons refused them their daughters ; and these two 
races were the progenitors of the Scotch Lowlanders, who are 
almost purely Teutonic. 

About 300 b. c, another Teutonic variety — the Belgse — 
probably from Germany, settled themselves in the south of 
Britain, occupying the district from the south coast to the 
Bristol Channel ; and it is supposed that many other parts of 
the coast became colonised about this period by different 



92 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

German tribes. Caesar remarks that the Belgae, who were the 
last to give way before the Eoman arms, were a civilised 
people compared to the aborigines of the interior, the Celtic 
Cymri ; and that the farther he got inland from the coast, the 
more fierce and barbarous he found the people. In Hamp- 
shire, Sussex, and Wiltshire, traces of the old Belgic popula- 
tion are imagined to be visible in the features of some of the 
present country-people, who are dark-complexioned, hard, 
morose, and angular-looking ; and in Hampshire, especially, 
are different from any to be met with eke where in England. 
Wansditch, in Wiltshire, a vast earthen rampart, nineteen 
miles long, is supposed to have been a Belgic work. 

Caesar, it is supposed, first landed on our shore August 25th, 
55 b. a, somewhere on the east coast of Kent, probably between 
Walmer Castle and Sandwich ; and with the coming of intelli- 
gent invaders who could write down and preserve a record of 
what they saw, the true history of our island begins, and the 
Britons begin to be a visible people. Diodorus Siculus, the 
Greek historian, who wrote his i Historical Library ' soon after 
the death of Caesar, describes the aboriginal Britons as tall in 
stature, corpulent, and not well made; as storing up their 
corn in the stalk in thatched houses, and plucking the ears out 
from day to day as they wanted them for food ; as making 
their huts of reeds and logs within an inclosure of felled trees. 
Caesar says that the Britons of the interior sowed no corn, 
clothed in skins, and lived on flesh and milk; that all the 
Britons stained their bodies with a blue dye from woad, to give 
them a more terrible appearance in battle; that they wore 
their hair long, and left the upper lip un shaved. The Britons 
are elsewhere described as wearing breeches (braccce), like the 
Gauls and Germans. Writing about the time of Tiberius, the 
Greek geographer, Strabo, says of the inhabitants of the Tin 
Islands (probably the Scilly Isles), that they were much more 
polished in manners, from their intercourse with foreigners ; 
that they led a pastoral and wandering life, wore black cloaks, 
which were girt about the waist and reached the ankle ; 
walked about with sticks in their hands, and had beards as 



KACES OF MEN. 93 

long as goats. These were probably the Celtic tribes from 
Spain, of whom Festus Avienus, a Latin writer of the fourth 
century, says that they were high-spirited and active, and 
eagerly devoted to trade ; had no ships built of timber, but 
made their way in a wonderful manner through the water in 
boats constructed merely of skins sewed together. 

Britain was under Eoman dominion for 400 years, and as 
a Eoman province became duly noticed in the writ- 
ten records of the Empire : its roads and military 
stations are detailed in the Antonine Itinerary, a work variously 
attributed to Julius Caesar, Antoninus Augustus, and other 
Eoman writers of the three first centuries ; and its government 
and military affairs are described in the Notitia Imperii, a 
Eoman work, probably of the fifth century. 

The occupancy of the Eomans being a military one, they 
seem to have mingled too little with the Britons to leave 
much trace of themselves upon the race, although the visible 
traces of them in the remains of works of art are more 
numerous than those of any other of the early tribes. These 
Eoman antiquities consist principally of the fragments of walls, 
roads, camps, forts, amphitheatres, tombs, baths, furnaces, a 
vast quantity of pottery, coins, arms, and trinkets, and altars 
to their various deities ; and there are few localities where 
there are not some mementos of their presence. Tacitus tells 
us that the Eomans endeavoured to civilise and instruct the 
Britons in their own arts ; but, however this may be, all signs 
of the Eoman civilisation seem to have been erased by the 
barbarous tribes who succeeded them, and all the Eoman 
buildings that were capable of destruction to have been 
destroyed, in most cases, by fire. 

While yet the Eomans held possession of the land, pirates 
from Scandinavia and Germany infested our coasts, „ 

Scixons 

while Picts from Caledonia and Scots from Ireland 
pressed upon the interior of the country from the north. But 
the power of Eome was now fast decaying, and the distresses 
of the Empire rendering the protection of its distant provinces 
too burdensome, the Eoman troops were finally withdrawn 



94 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

from Britain, and the country left to the mercy of its barbarian 
invaders, about the middle of the fifth century. After the 
abandonment of the Romans, the history of Britain seems 
again to become confused by fable, and the next recorders cf 
events were English monks and ecclesiastics of different periods, 
who wrote the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles from which the Vener- 
able Bede compiled his ' Ecclesiastical History of the English 
Nation' about the year 617. These Chronicles related chiefly 
to church affairs, and made but small allusion to civil events ; 
but, gathered from this scanty source, the popular story runs, 
that the Britons, after the departure of the Romans, sought 
protection from some adventurers from the shores of the North 
Sea, who, headed by the brother chiefs, Hengist and Horsa, 
routed for them the Scots and Picts, and received for their re- 
ward, in 449, the Isle of Thanet for their residence ; this being 
the first introduction of that powerful Saxon race, who were 
destined to become the founders of the English nation. It is 
most probable, however, that the settlement of the Saxons was 
a gradual one. That it had begun before the Romans left is 
proved by Roman and Saxon graves being found in the same 
cemetery,* and it is certain that arrivals of Saxon tribes 
continued to take place throughout a long period. In King 
Alfred's translation from the Latin of Bede, there is this toler- 
ably distinct statement : ' Came they of three folk tlie strongest 
4 of Germany ; that of the Saxons, of the Angles, and of the 
c Greats (Jutes). Of the Geats originally are the Kent people 
' and the Wiht settlers ; that is, the people which Wiht the 
* island live on.' These ' three folk ' afterwards went under 
the general name of Anglo-Saxon, and it is supposed, from 
the affinities of our language, that Frisian tribes from Denmark 
also extensively settled in England about the same period, and 
were included in the common Saxon name. 

The Saxons became in their turn the conquerors and oppres- 
sors of the British, and in alliance with the Picts gained posses- 
sion of the land, after a violent struggle of about 150 years. The 

* Wright, The Celt, the JRoman, and the Saxon. 



RACES OF MEN. 95 

native chiefs, warriors, and priests took refuge in the moun- 
tain-fastnesses of Wales and Cornwall, but the common 
people remained and mingled with the Saxons, either as slaves 
or wives. In the midland districts, the Celts, who were left 
behind, are supposed at least to have equalled in number the 
Saxons, and at the present day the old British type is believed 
to predominate in the midland counties, and to account for the 
much greater similarity among the country-people there than 
exists among those of the border districts, where the vast 
number of Saxon and Scandinavian settlers gave early a pre- 
dominance to the Teuton element. The country from this 
time became known to foreigners as Anglia — probably because 
the Angles were the most numerous of the settlers — and by the 
Saxons themselves was called Angla or Engla-lond (lond being 
Saxon for country), and in 829, by order of Egbert, king of 
the West Saxons, the name was finally changed to England. 

It is chiefly by looking into their graves that relics 
and mementos have been found of the Saxons of the early 
pagan period. These graves were called beorh or barrows, 
and differ from the British cromlechs in being pits dug in the 
ground covered over with a mound, and being generally 
found in large groups; indeed, very like our graves and 
graveyards. In these graves lie sometimes the Saxon war- 
riors, buried in full dress, with arms and shield, and the long 
iron sword peculiar to their warfare ; sometimes the Saxon 
ladies, with combs, and hair-pins, and rings and trinkets about 
them ; and in other graves the bones are found mingled with 
buckets, boxes, pairs of scales, drinking-cups, and household 
utensils of many kinds. One reason why few remains of early 
Saxon structures are left to us, is said to be that most of their 
buildings were of wood ; an opinion which is confirmed by 
the Saxon word for a building being tymbre, and their verb 
to build being derived from bytla, a hammer. After their con- 
version to Christianity, about the end of the seventh century, 
they became ambitious of building churches of stone, ' after 
the Eoman manner ; ' but still the absence of walls, castles, or 
any other edifices, is a characteristic of the Saxon period. The 



96 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

old Saxon charters, many of them preserved in the British 

Museum, are interesting relics of the mother-tongue, while 

the crosses that stand as the signatures of king and nobles are 

not the least curious of autographs. 

The Saxon rule lasted for about 605 years, but their possession 

V -, became divided with other Teutonic tribes from Scan- 

Danes and . -i'i--!i 

Norwe- dmavia; the Danes during the eighth century making 

settlements in the east of Scotland, the north-east and 
south of England, the south and east of Ireland ; and the Nor- 
wegians occupying the Orkneys, Hebrides, and Shetlands, and 
holding sway over the northern districts both of Scotland and 
Ireland. The Danes mixed to a great extent with the popu- 
lation in England, especially to the north of the Humber, 
which retained long the name of the Danelagh ; they have 
left many traces of themselves in the names of places, in 
dykes, churches, and structures of various sorts, and the 
Danish type is said to be very distinguishable in some of the 
large-boned, energetic inhabitants of the north and east 
counties. In Scotland and Ireland traces of the Scandinavian 
are equally discernible ; for instance, in Caithness, where nearly 
all the names of places are Norwegian. 

In 1066, by the issue of the battle of Hastings, was intro- 
duced into our race its last important Teutonic 
element, the Norman. Although the Normans had 
much the same origin as the Anglo-Saxons, being a mixed 
race of Scandinavians, Frisians, and other tribes from the 
German coast, yet, from their having adopted the French 
language, and French habits and customs, their naturalisation 
in England changed essentially both language and people ; and 
the firm and sometimes tyrannical rule of our Norman kings 
had the effect of welding together the discordant elements of 
Celtic, Saxon, Dane and Norman. 

' Do you take me for an Englishman ? ' was the usual form 
of indignant denial of a Norman gentleman in the time of 
Eichard I. ; but by the time of Edward III. the distinction 
between Norman and Saxon no longer existed. Ferocious 
despots as they were over the Saxon sons of the soil, it is to 



RACES OF MEN. 97 

the Anglo-Normans that we owe the refining elements which 
made the English noble a gentleman as well as a warrior, and 
which introduced into the rude land of the Anglo-Saxon the 
spirit of chivalry, the love of the arts, and the taste for polite 
luxury. Unlike his Saxon neighbour, the Norman l loved 
to display his magnificence, not in huge piles of food and 
hogsheads of strong drink, but in large and stately edifices, 
rich armour, gallant horses, choice falcons, well-ordered tour- 
naments, banquets delicate rather than abundant, wines 
remarkable rather for their exquisite flavour than their intox- 
icating qualities.'* Castles and fortresses especially belong 
to the Norman period. Hume states that more than 1,100 
Norman castles existed in England in the thirteenth century, 
these being chiefly border fortresses, built for protection against 
Welsh incursions. Among the minor relics of Norman art is 
the Bayeux tapestry, descriptive of the Conquest, and supposed 
to have been worked by Matilda, the Conqueror's wife, and 
her maidens. In almost all parts of England is thought to 
be discerned the Norman type in the tall, slender forms and 
striking features of many of the population. 

As trade and intercourse with foreigners increased, many 
fresh types were introduced among our already varied p oreiRn 
races. Nearly all our manufacturing towns have elements. 
mainly derived their population from vast numbers of foreign 
operatives, who have planted themselves there for the sake of 
the special trade in which they were skilled ; and this, it is 
said, accounts for the fact that dark complexions are mostly 
found in manufacturing towns, while in the agricultural dis- 
tricts, the light, native Saxon complexions chiefly prevail. 
For instance, in Spitalfields and other silk-manufacturing dis- 
tricts, the Huguenot variety is frequent (that is, the descend- 
ants of the early French Protestants), characterised as ' rather 
under middle size ; flat face and small features, with nose 
bevilled at the point ; industrious, economical, and temperate, 
but fond of dress and show ; temperament, nervous-phlegmatic : ' 

* Macaulay. 
H 



98 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

and in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the Flemings 

o 

introduced themselves and their manufactures into many of 
our towns ; their type being distinguished as ■ stout and 
phlegmatic, plodding and ingenious, dark- complexioned and 
bad-looking.' Of course, from many causes, the large towns 
show a greater variety of types than the country districts, and 
also a more constant change in the elements of the population. 
In London, where the Teutonic character decidedly predomi- 
nates, the types are exceedingly numerous, but, nevertheless, 
it is said, well-marked and distinct from each other. In 
Edinburgh the Teutonic population is scarcely two -thirds ; in 
Dublin the Celtic prevails. In Liverpool the Teutonic pre- 
dominates in the higher classes, but, owing to the influx of 
the Irish, the Teutonic and Celtic about balance one another 
among the lower. In Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and 
Glasgow the Celtic is also on the increase, owing to the constant 
immigration of the Irish. 

In Scotland, besides the two great divisions of Gaelic High- 
Types in landers and Scotch Lowlanders, there are few varieties 
Scotland. f type. The formation of the Scotch character 
may be attributed to the mixture of the Celtic and Teutonic 
ingredients in different proportions and in a different mode 
from that which took place in England. More of the Celtic 
sentiment remained in the people after the strength and life of 
the nation became Teutonic, and the character of the race was 
greatly influenced by the Norwegian colonies on the north, the 
immigration of Normans from England, and the extensive 
trade of Scotland on the east coast with the Han se towns of 
the north and west of Europe during the middle ages. 

In Ireland, the mixture of race from the immigration of 
T in Teutonic tribes- — the Scandinavian Scots in the north, 
Ireland. the Picts in the east, the Norwegians and the Danes 
in the east and south, the Belgse in the south, the Anglo- 
Norman in the east and north, the Lowland Scots in Ulster, 
and the English in Londonderry — renders it probable that there 
is far more of mixed Teutonic than of Celtic blood in the 
country. 



BACES OF MEN. 99 

Original types often become consider ably altered, even in a 
comparatively short time, by locality, occupation, and other 
constantly acting influences. For instance, an old Wiltshire 
chronicler explains to us how the mere fact of living on high 
or low ground may act upon the character of the inhabitants : 
' In North Wiltshire (a dirty clayey county) the indiginas or 
aborigines speake drawlinge ; they are phlegmatique ; skins 
pale and livid, slow and dull, heavy of spirit; hereabout is but 
little tillage or hard labour, they only milk the cows and 
make the cheese. They feed chiefly on milk meates, which 
cools their brains too much, and hurts their inventions. 
These circumstances makes them melancholy, contemplative, 
and malicious ; by consequence many law-suits, and by the 
same reason they are apt to be fanatiques; their persons are 
plump and feggy ; gallipot eyes, some black ; but they are gene- 
rally handsome enough. The county abounds with soure and 
austere plants, which makes their humours soure and fixes 
their spirits. In all changes of religion they are more zealous 
than any other. In Malmsbury Hundred (the west clayey 
part) there have even been reputed witches. Contrariwise on 
the Downes, the south part, where 'tis all upon tillage, and 
where the shepherds labour hard, their flesh is hard, their 
bodies strong ; being wearie after hard labour, they have not 
leisure to read or contemplate of religion, but goe to bed to 
their rest to rise betime the next morning to their labour.' 

Although at this distance of time all is very dim and con- 
fused as to the first peopling of the land, and the localities that 
each tribe selected, there is, nevertheless, evidence in the 
people themselves of distinct classes or types which bear 
witness to the variety of the original settlers. Overlooking, 
however, minor sources of diversity, it may be said that three 
main streams enter into the current of pur blood : the Celtic, 
the Saxon, and the Norse or Scandinavian ; which latter 
includes the Danish, Norwegian, and Norman. To the Saxon 
element has been attributed that practical patient industry 
which has ploughed our fields, woven our garments, made our 
machinery, and manages our affairs in times of peace; to the 

h2 



100 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Celtic, that poetical imagination, that venerative faculty, and 
worship of the past, which both softens and exalts us ; to the 
Norse, that intelligent force which guides a nation's destinies, 
and makes our captains triumphant and our adventurers 
successful ; which makes ' onwards ' the watchword both in 
civilisation and power. 

LANGUAGES. 

There are three languages at present spoken in the British 
Isles : the Cambrian or Ancient British, the Gaelic, and the 
English. 

The two first, the Cambrian and the Gaelic, are the old Celtic 
Celtic languages of the first known inhabitants of the island, 
languages. an d are so allied to the other members of the great 
Indo-European family of languages supposed to have been 
native to Asia, that in tracing their origin we are led back to the 
remote time, before the dawn of history, when the continent 
of Europe, and afterwards the British Isles, were peopled by 
migrations from the East. 

The Cambrian is the common language of Wales ; the Irish 
Gaelic, or Erse, is the language of the common people in most 
parts of Ireland ; the Scottish Gaelic is the language of the 
Highlands, the west of Scotland, and the Hebrides ; and 
another dialect of the Gaelic is the Manx, or language of the 
Isle of Man. Naturally the most ancient names of the coun- 
tries where these languages were spoken are Celtic ; for 
instance, Erin, ancient Ireland; Caledonia, ancient Scotland, 
from Caoill-daoin, the people of the woods ; and Cymro, 
ancient Wales ; by which name the Welshman still calls his 
country ; the name of Wales, meaning foreign, being a Saxon 
appellation. The name of Britannia is also Celtic, with a 
Latin termination, supposed to be derived either from Brit 
daoine, painted people — the wild natives having been in the 
habit of painting their bodies — or from Bruit, tin, and tan, 
country. 

The English and Lowland Scotch are Teutonic languages, 



LANGUAGES. 101 

belonging, it is supposed, to that same great Indo-European 
stock from which the Celtic was derived, but of more Teutonic 
recent date. languages. 

The English is of German origin, the mother-tongue being 
the Anglo-Saxon, or Old English ; a language formed by a 
union of the dialects of the Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians, 
and other tribes who occupied Britain, and which in its 
gradual transformation into English went through three prin- 
cipal stages, viz. the Anglo-Saxon, which lasted from the 
arrival of the Saxons to the invasion of the Danes, a period of 
about 330 years ; the Dano- Saxon, which lasted till the Nor- 
man invasion ; and the Norman- Saxon, which lasted till about 
the time of Henry II.* One of the earliest specimens of the 
Anglo-Saxon is a copy of the Lord's Prayer, written by 
Eadfrith, bishop of Lindisfarne, about the year 700 : — 

1 Fader uren thu arth in heofnum sie gehalgud noma thin ; 
to cymeth ric thin; sie willo thin susels inheofne & in eortho; 
hlaf usenne ofer wistlic sel us to daeg ; & forgef us scylda 
usna suse use forgefon scyldgum usum ; & ne inland usih in 
costunge all gefrig usich from yfle.' 

The earliest specimen remaining of what can, strictly 
speaking, be called English, is The Chronicle of Eobert of 
Gloucester, of the time of Edward I., 1280, being a history 
of England in verse, ' from the landing of Brutus to the 
accession of Edward.' The following is one of the verses in 
the account of the battle of Evesham, in 1265, at which the 
writer was present : — 

c Ac the Welsse fot men, that ther were mani on 
Ac the beginninge of the bataile bigonne to fie ech one. 
And com thorn Teukesburi, and there men of the toune 
Slowe horn al to grounde, that there hii leie ther doune 
So thicke histrete, that reuthe it was to se, 
And grace hadde non of horn, to fitze ne to fie.' 

It was several centuries before the English language could be 
said to be fixed, as is shown by the ad-libitum spelling of old 

. * Knight's Pictorial History of England. 



102 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



documents; and even in the time of Elizabeth, the orthog- 
raphy was so unsettled that the same word was often spelled 
two or three different ways in the same page. 

The Lowland or Broad Scotch is derived from much the 
same stock as the Anglo-Saxon, namely, from the Low-Ger- 
man. While the old Celtic dialects seem to be fast disap- 
pearing, the Manx being nearly extinct, and the Gaelic 
declining, the English is becoming more and more the common 
language throughout the kingdom. 



ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 

The Anglo-Saxon seems entirely to have superseded the old 
Celtic British dialects in England, with the exception of a 
elements. f ew Celtic words that still linger in the language to tell 
of the dwelling here of the ancient races. These Celtic words 
are chiefly names of persons and places, such as Kent, Thames, 
Avon ; and a large proportion of the names of places in Wales 
and Ireland, and parts of Scotland, such as those formed from 
aber, ben, caer, glen, kill, tin, strath. Also the names of common 
things are frequently Celtic ; for instance, the following from 
the Cambrian, or Welsh : * — 



Welsh 


English. 


Welsh. 


English. 


Basqawd 


. . Basket, 


Grual . . . 


Gruel. 


Berfa 


. . Barrow. 


Gwieed . . ♦ 


Wicket. 


Botwm . 


. . Button. 


Gwn .... 


Gown. 


Bran . . 


. . Bran. 


Gwyfr . . . 


Wire. 


Clwt . . 


. . Clout 


Masg . . . . 


Mesh. 


Crockan . 


. . Crockery. 


Mattoq . . . 


Mattock. 


Croq . . 


. . Crook. 


Mop . . . . 


Mop. 


Cwysed . 


. . Gusset. 


Khail . . . 


Kail. 


Cyl, Cyln 


. . Kiln, kill (pro- 


Rhashq (slice) . 


Rasher. 




vincial). 


Rhuwch . . . 


Rug.^ 


Dantaith 


. . Dainty. 


Sawduriaw . . 


Soldier. 


Darn 


. . Darn. 


Syth(glue). . 


Size. 


Fynnell . 


. . Funnel. 


Tael . . . . 


Tackle. 



Celtic elements have also been introduced through the medium 
of other languages, at a more recent date. 

* Dr. Latham's Handbook of the English Language. 



LANGUAGES. 103 

The Bomans, during their occupation of the land, introduced 
several words relating chiefly to military affairs, and Latin 
many more relating to ecclesiastical matters were elements, 
borrowed from the Latin, during the period of the Saxon kings 
who had been converted to Christianity ; such as candel, a 
candle, from the Latin candela ; bisceop, a bishop, episcopas ; 
calic, a chalice, calix ; pall, a pall, pallium. Names of arti- 
cles of foreign origin, and of foreign plants and animals, were 
taken from the Latin of this period ; such as, dish, discus ; 
cook, coquus', pound, pondus ; camell, camelus; yip, elephant, 
elephas ; pipor, pepper, piper ; purpur, purple, purpura ; 
caivl, or cabbage, caulis ; radish, radix. At a later period 
much Latin was introduced into the schools, cloisters, and 
courts of law; and still more recently, the Latin has been largely 
used to express scientific terms ; for instance, focus, axis, 
basis, index, apparatus ; and the mother-tongue has been still 
further latinised by admixture with the French and Italian, 
which are themselves languages derived from the Latin. 

Danish or Norse was, about a thousand years ago, the 
tongue spoken in at least five or six counties in the Danish 
north and east of England, and until the seventeenth elements - 
century it was the language of the Orkneys and Shetlands. 
The syllable by, which forms the termination of many names 
of places in these counties, is Danish. The two words, ale 
and beer, make a curious index of the prevalence of the Danish 
or Anglo-Saxon element in the population. c Wherever ale, 
which is Danish, is counted the stronger beverage, the Danish 
element is said to prevail ; wherever beer, which is Anglo- 
Saxon, is the stronger, the Anglo-Saxon predominates.' * 

The words borrowed from the Norman relate chiefly to 
warfare, and chivalry, and the administration of the Norman 
law ; such as esquire, count, baron, villain, service, elements - 
warrant, domain, challenge. The name Norman means, man 
of the north ; and the Norman language was a mixture of the 
French of the original inhabitants of the province with the 

* Blackwood's Magazine, March 1862. 



104 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Norse of the Scandinavians, who overran it. Macaulay states 
that even before the Conquest, the French of Normandy was 
familiarly spoken in the palace of Westminster, since the 
English princes were educated in Normandy, and Norman 
nobles possessed English estates. 

Greek words have been introduced chiefly since the period of 
Greek the revival of learning after the dark ages, and have 
elements. servec [ t ] ie use f fan learned rather than of the 
common people ; for instance, phenomenon, criterion. 

Intercourse with other nations has naturally introduced 

many foreign words into the language, which, 

neous although in common use, do not form constituents 

of the English tongue. Of these miscellaneous 

elements the French is the most important ; but we have also 

words borrowed from the Italian, Hebrew, and Eastern 

nations, and indeed from most quarters where Englishmen 

have traded or visited. The following are a few of these newly 

imported words : — 

Arabic. — Alcohol, alcove, algebra, alkali, assassin, alchemy, 
admiral. 

Turkish. — Coffee, scimitar, divan. 

Persian. — Turban, caravan, balcony. 

Hindoo. — Calico, chintz, muslin, curry. 

Chinese. — Tea, bohea, and all the tea varieties. 

Malay. — Bantam, sago, gamboge. 

Tungusian. — Mammoth . 

Caribbean. — Hammock* 

RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 

1 If,' says Seneca, ' you come to a grove thick planted with 
Celtic ancient trees, which have outgrown the usual alti- 
worsmp. tude, and which shut out the view of the heaven with 
their interwoven boughs ; the vast height of the wood, and 
the retired secrecy of the place, and the wonder and awe 
inspired by so dense a gloom in the midst of the open day, 
impress you with the conviction of a present deity.' These 
sentiments of natural devotion, inspired by the thick shade of 



RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 105 

trees, seem especially to have blended with the worship of oiir 
forefathers ; and the first form of religion of which there is any 
record in these isles, Druidisrn, takes its name from the Celtic 
word for oak, dmi, and was associated in all its rites 
with the shade and the leaf of this tree. Pliny tells 
us that 'the Druids believed that God loved the oak above all 
the other trees, and that everything growing upon the tree came 
from heaven, and consequently there was nothing they held 
more sacred than the misletoe.' The objects of their worship, 
or rather emblems of deity, in the earliest form of their faith, 
appear to have been the heavenly bodies, and chief of all, the 
sun or fire, under the name of Beli, supposed to be the same 
name as the Baal or Bel of the Orientals ; and consequently 
sacrifice by fire was the usual mode of adoration. Druidism 
was not a religion peculiar to the British isles ; Greece, Eome, 
Assyria, and Egypt, all had religious teachers who were wont 
to assemble their disciples under some aged oak (drus in the 
Greek), and to worship the Invisible Being in the shady woods 
or under the open arch of heaven ; and the similarity of the reli- 
gion of the west with the paganism of the east, affords additional 
evidence of the connection of our earliest races with the 
people of Asia. Apparently it was no unimportant part that 
these priests of nature performed in the education of those 
rude races. According to Caesar, the Druids held office in 
three capacities, as priests, magistrates, and instructors of the 
young. The connection of their worship with the sun and 
planets naturally made them the astronomers of their day, and 
observatories or watch-towers were provided for them from 
which they could observe the heavens, and especially note the 
first appearance of the new moon ; and this affords a probable 
explanation of the mysterious round towers found through- 
out Ireland, Scotland, Europe, and the East, wmich have long 
puzzled antiquaries from their singular height and structure, 
and the absence of any obvious purpose for their erection. 
These towers are usually found adjoining churches which have 
been built on the site of old temples, and this union of the 
watch-tower with the temple is supposed to have been the 



106 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

origin of the church and steeple. The druidical circles, such 
as Stonehenge, also are explained by this connection of 
astronomy with the Druid worship ; the circles of stone 
symbolising the revolutions of the sun and moon, and the 
stones marking the months and years ; each separate stone 
probably forming the altar for the season on which the holy 
fire was kept burning. Frequently the sacrifices upon these 
altar-stones were human victims ; and we are accustomed to 
picture the Druid priest, with knife in hand, as the rigid, 
bloodthirsty minister of a hideous superstition. But it has 
been suggested that the victims might have been criminals 
whom the Druid, in his double capacity of priest and magis- 
trate, condemned and executed with religious rites in expiation 
of his crime or offence against the gods. As teachers of the 
young, Csesar, in his ' Commentaries,' represents the Druids as 
keeping schools in which the pupils stayed for twenty years to 
complete their education; teaching them chiefly to repeat 
by rote, ' for it is unlawful to commit their doctrines to 
writing.' He adds, that in writing the Druids made use of the 
Greek characters, thus confirming the idea of their connection 
with Greece and the East. Diogenes Laertes relates that the 
substance of their faith, practice, and instruction was com- 
prised in these three precepts — to worship the gods, to do no 
evil, and to be brave ; and that they taught the doctrine of 
immortality chiefly for the encouragement of valour. 

Either jealousy of so powerful a body of priests, or, as was 
pretended, horror at the atrocities they practised, gave occa- 
sion to the Eoman edict for the total overthrow of Druid- 
ism, issued either by the Emperor Claudius or Tiberius ; 
and accordingly the Druids were driven from their head- 
quarters in Anglesea, the sacred groves were cut down, and 
the faith was either extirpated or forced to become a hidden 
worship in the south about the year 61 A. D. After this time 
Druidism is supposed to have taken refuge in some parts of 
Scotland, and to have flourished in Ireland until the abolition 
of it by the Christian saint, Patrick, about the middle of the 
fifth century. Supposed relics of Druidism remain to us all 



RELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 107 

the country over, in the round towers, the druidical circles, the 
cromlechs or sepulchral chambers ; and perhaps some vestige 
of the religion of the fire- worshippers is to be traced in a few 
of our familiar village customs, for instance, the ceremonies of 
All-Hallowmass, the holly and misletoe at Christinas, and the 
bonfires of May-Day and Midsummer Eve; in Ireland and the 
north of Scotland the 1st of May or June being scill called Bel- 
June, or the day of Bel-Fire.* 

As the stern deities of the Druids retired into obscurity, the 
classic gods of Ronie took their place; and temples Roman 
and altars rose to Jupiter under vaiious Latin dimities, 
designations, to the Apollo, Minerva, Diana, Neptune, and Her- 
cules of the Greek mythology, and even to the Egyptian god 
Serapis ; while our dark oak forests and our northern skies 
became peopled with the wood-nymphs and the bright genii 
loci of the sunny Italian clime. Tradition says that almost 
every road and station had its temple ; and although the temples 
were nearly entirely destroyed in the dark ages, numerous altars 
have been found dedicated to the Eoman deities, consisting 
usually of a square block of stone, with an inscription in front. 
Of these by far the greater number are dedicated to Jupiter, 
and next to him, to Mars ; but only a very few are found to 
the female divinities, although London is believed to have had 
its temple to Diana, and Bath its temple to Minerva. 

While the Romans were planting their religion in the land, 
Teutonic tribes appear to have been introducing Teut0I1 i C 
their forms of belief, which blended in some cases divinities. 
with the Roman. Thus, from an altar found at Chester, date, 
154 a.d., it would appear that Jupiter was worshipped as the 
great Scandinavian god Thor ; and in districts where the Teu- 
tonic race predominated, especially in York, Durham, and 
Westmoreland, altars have been found with Roman inscriptions 
to the Dece Matres of the Germans ; the three goddesses of the 
woods and fields, who dispensed the blessings of Providence to 
mankind, supposed to be identical with the three Fates or 

* Pictorial History of England. 



108 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Norni of the north, and with the three wceleyrian or weird 
sisters of the Anglo-Saxons, whom Shakspeare has transformed 
into three witches. 

The English names for the days of the week are examples 
of the Saxon mythology being grafted on to the Roman. 
According to the notion of the eastern astrologers, that the 
planets presided over the different hours in succession, the 
Romans assigned the seven days of the week to the Sun, Moon, 
Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Yenus, and Saturn. The Anglo- 
Saxons adopted the Roman names for Saturday, Sunday, and 
Monday, merely changing the Dies Saturni, the Dies Solis, 
and the Dies Lunse into Anglo-Saxon ; but for the other days 
they substituted the names of those divinities of their own who 
most resembled the Roman : thus for Mars they put their god 
Tin or Tiw, and thus made Tiwes-daeg or Tuesday ; for Mer- 
cury, Woden, making Wodnes-daeg, Wednesday ; for Jupiter, 
Thor, making Thor's-daeg, Thursday ; and for Yenus, Friga, 
Friday. Gradually Saxon paganism took the place of Roman, 
and it is only here and there that a Roman inscription, found 
in a Saxon cemetery, gives evidence that the classic gods still 
had a few worshippers left in the land. 

The two books of the Edda, first compiled in the eleventh 
Saxon and twelfth centuries from the sacred poems of the 
belief. ancient bards or skalds, contain the Saxon belief, the 
religion of Odin. Much wild grandeur and even beauty mingle 
with the savage conception of this mythology. The universe 
was symbolised as the World Tree, Tggdrasil, the tree of Time 
and Existence ; its roots are in the dark, cold mist-country, 
Niflheim-, its branches pass through Midgard, the dwelling- 
place of men ; its top ascends to the realms of bliss, Asgard, 
the seat of the gods. The three Fates, Norna, sit ever by its 
side, watching and watering it. Odin (Scandinavian), or 
Woden (Saxon), was the presiding deity — whose true history 
appears to be, that he was chief of a Scythian tribe in North 
Persia, who, being oppressed by Pompey after the Mithridatic 
war, fled with his followers to Scandinavia, where he became 
a conqueror and benefactor, and on his death was deified for 



KELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 109 

his valour and superior intelligence. The seat of Odin is 
Valhal, Hall of the Chosen, where dwell with him the heroes 
who have died the death of the brave ;■ whose felicity consists 
in spending the day in furious battle, and supping in the 
evening on the exhaustless flesh of the boar, Scrinmer, and 
drinking mead out of the skulls of their enemies. The wife of 
Odin is Frigga, the divine mother, or Freia, the beautiful, the 
Teutonic Venus ; his sons are, Balder, the best-beloved, who 
represents light, sun, and summer, benevolence, justice, and 
goodness ; Thor, the Strong, who represents thunder, and has 
a hammer, Miollner, l the Smasher,' which Odin allows him to 
use for only four months in the year — the other eight months 
it lies buried under ground ; Kiord, god of the waters ; Tyr, 
god of champions ; Brage, of orators and poets ; and Heimdal, 
guard of the rainbow, the lofty bridge that connected world 
with world. Loki was the principle of Evil, who contrives 
the death of Balder, who therewith descends to the region of 
Hel, to Niflheim, the Mist-land. All nature is troubled at 
Balder's death, and Frigga, the divine mother, sends Hermo- 
dur, the Swift, down Hel way to entreat Hel for his restoration. 
Hel consents ; for does not the tree Yggdrasil join hell with 
heaven, so that there is sympathy between them ? but Hel 
consents only on condition that all things weep for Balder. 
All things obey ; and men, and beasts, and plants, and mine- 
rals, all weep for Balder the Good. Loki only refuses to weep, 
so Balder remains in Niflheim till the coming of the Eagvarok, 
or Eclipse of the Gods, when Odin himself shall be swallowed 
up by the serpent of Hel, the offspring of Loki ; and the tree 
Yggdrasil shall be consumed by fire. But out of that chaos of 
destruction will arise a better cosmos ; Balder will return, and 
then will reign for ever supreme 'that Mighty One, the Strong 
One from above, He who guides all things, rides to the 
councils of the gods, bringing judgment, and establishing laws 
for ever.' Many fierce and savage elements mingled with this 
superstition, especially among the Danes, to whom Odin was 
chiefly the Avenger, and ' the sacred duty of blood revenge 5 
was the prominent principle. Even among the Anglo-Saxons, 



110 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

who adopted the religion in its mildest form, human sacrifices 
seem to have been allowed ; and in its later days, as it lost its 
hold over the minds of the higher class, the Odin worship 
appears to have lost its spiritual elements, and to have become 
a mere savage idolatry. In the old Saxon Christian profession 
of faith, the long venerated names of Thunar and Woden are 
perhaps with reason classed amongst the diabola?. 

Q. Forsachistu diobolae ? 

i?. Ec forsacho allum diobolgeldse, end allu dioboles unercum, and- 
uuordum, Thunar, ende AVoden, ende Saxnote, ende allem them unholdum, 
the hiro genotas sint. 

In English : 

Q. Eenouncest thou the devil ? 

A. I renounce all devil-guilds, and all the devil's works and words ; 
Thunar, and Woden, and Saxnote, and all the unholy ones who are their 
fellows. 

It is uncertain at what period Christianity first found its 
Christi- wa 7 ^ n ^° tnese islands. Possibly Eoman converts 
anity. mav have introduced some knowledge of it before 
the close even of the first century, and by the end of the 
second it would appear to have made much progress from the 
remark of Tertullian, in 209, that ■ even those places in Britain 
Wtherto inaccessible to the Eoman arms have been subdued 
by the gospel of Christ.' Legend and miracle so abound in the 
monastic records of these early days of the Church, that it is 
difficult to discern the facts of its progress, and the Christianity 
of that barbarous age would seem sometimes to have been 
strangely blended with the existing idolatries. Eedwald, king 
of East Anglia, for instance, kept in his sanctuary one altar 
to Christ, and a smaller one to Jupiter behind it. In the 
midst, however, of the obscurity, one or two names of Chris- 
tian heroes and martyrs stand out that do not seem wholly 
legendary, and indicate that a religion of self-sacrifice and 
holiness had begun to shed its light upon our land. About 
the year 3Q0 a.d., Alban, a citizen of the town of Verulam, 
according to tradition, died for his faith under the general 
persecution of the Christians by the Emperor Diocletian, and 



BELIGIOUS BELIEFS. Ill 

was thus the first Christian martyr in England. About the 
year 412, the Picts south of the Grampians were converted by 
Ninian, bishop of Whithern ; and in 422, St. Patrick swept 
away the heathenism of Ireland, and, by his own account, 
established Christianity as the national religion. At the 
coming of the Saxons in 449, a barbarous form of Christianity 
appears to have been the religion of most of the south of Eng- 
land, and the Picts and Scots were ' put to flighte with shouts 
of Hallelujah.' About 563, St. Columba, revered as the 
national saint of Scotland until that honour was awarded to 
the skeleton of St. Andrew, converted the Picts north of the 
Grampians, and in the barren isle of Iona founded a system of 
monastic discipline and an order of clergy, called Culdees, who, 
from the purity of their lives and doctrine and their rejection 
of the authority of Eome, became important in their influence 
over the religious thought of Scotland. The Romish religion 
is said to have been introduced into Scotland by Palladino, a 
priest sent over by the Bishop of Rome, and throughout the 
dark ages it was the established faith. 

The first organised attempt for the conversion of England 
was made by St. Augustine, a monk of the order of 
St. Andrews at Rome, in the year 569 ; and thus, 
about 650 years after Csesar had landed his soldiers on the 
coast of Kent to subdue the island by the sword, St. Austin 
landed his forty monks on the same coast on a mission from 
Pope Gregory I. to i snatch the Angles from the wrath to 
come, and to bring them to the mercy of Christ.' The mis- 
sionaries were received with noble courtesy by King Ethelbert 
of Kent, were provided with habitation and sustenance, and 
allowed to take solemn possession of Canterbury, of which 
St. Austin was forthwith installed first bishop by Gregory. 
King Ethelbert shortly after accepted the new faith, and his 
example was followed by many of the petty sovereigns and by 
multitudes of their subjects ; and on account of the special 
success of Augustine in Kent, the Pope constituted Canterbury 
the seat of primacy in England. In less than ninety years 
after the coming of Augustine, Catholic Christianity became 



112 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

the established religion of England, and continued to be so 
until the era of the Eeformation in the sixteenth century. 

In 1337, John Wickliffe, Professor of Divinity in the 
Protestant- University of Oxford, and rector of Lutterworth in 
lsm * Leicestershire, laid the foundation of the Reforma- 

tion in England by opposing the authority of the Pope, and 
openly avowing his disbelief in the doctrines peculiar to the 
Church of Rome. Through the preaching of the great apostle 
of the Reformation in Germany, Martin Luther, 1517, and 
the rapid spread of the reformed belief on the continent, the 
cause of free thought became greatly advanced in England ; 
the dissenters from the Church of Rome taking the name of 
Protestants from the followers of Luther, who at a diet of 
Spires in 1530 had solemnly protested against the authority of 
Rome. But the most decisive blow to the authority of the 
Pope in England was given by Henry VIII. , whose son 
Edward VI. was the first Protestant king ; and although the 
reign of the Catholic Mary intervened, the Reformed Pro- 
testant Church became the religion of the state when Elizabeth 
ascended the throne in 1558. 

In Scotland, in 1529, a young Scot of noble birth, Patrick 
Hamilton, had become acquainted abroad with the doctrines of 
Luther and Melancthon, and preaching them at home, was 
burnt at the stake ; and his martyrdom, together with that of 
Wishart in 1545, gave the first movement to the Reformation 
in Scotland. The Calvinistic Reformer, John Knox, aided 
subsequently the downfall of the Catholic Church, and the 
Protestant Church gained the ascendency in 1560. 

The Reformed Church was established in Ireland in 1535, 
but the bulk of the native Irish still continue attached to the 
Roman Catholic faith. 

As the Protestant reformers dissented from the Church of 
Protestant Rome, so there arose many, even in the early days 
Dissenters. £ ^e Reformation, who dissented from the Church 
of England, and desired to carry still farther the departure 
from Romish observances and discipline. These first dis- 
senters were called Puritans, from the purity and simplicity 



KELIGIOUS BELIEFS. 113 

they endeavoured to introduce into their religion and con- 
duct, and they suffered grievous persecutions under the first 
Protestant reigns. The spirit of free inquiry, characteristic of 
the English and of all Teutonic races, and the increasing 
toleration of the government, have led to the formation of a 
greater number of dissenting sects in this than in any other 
Christian country, there being no less than thirty-five deno- 
minations in England and Wales, and about forty in the 
entire kingdom. The right of nonconformity to the Established 
Church was, after many struggles, formally conceded in the 
settlement of the Constitution under William III., after the 
Eevolution of 1688, and subsequent securities for freedom of 
conscience were also gradually made law ; the most important 
being the repeal of the Corporation and Test Acts in 1828, 
and the political emancipation of the Catholics in 1829* 



114 THE BKITISH ISLES. 



CHAPTER V. 

POLITICAL DIVISIONS. 

The division of the country in the time of the ancient Britons 
British was merely into the districts inhabited by the 
Divisions. vai .j ous tribes who colonised it, such as the country 
of the Brigantes, of the Trinobantes, Silures, Iceni, Belgse, &c, 
and Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer of the second century, 
to whom we are indebted for the names of these tribes, 
enumerates no less than thirty-five. 

After the Romans took possession they divided the whole of 
Boman England and a part of the lowlands of Scotland into 
Divisions, provinces, the names of which are found in the 
1 Notitia Imperii, 7 and the limits of which are assumed from a 
work of the fourteenth century, said to have been compiled by 
a monk, Richard of Cirencester, from the papers of a Roman 
general.* According to these two sources, the provinces 
were : 

1. Britannia Prima, the southern district. 

2. Britannia Secunda, west parts, including Wales. 

3. Flatca C^sariensis, midland counties. 

4. Maxima C^esareensis, northern counties, as far north as Ha- 

drian's Wall. 

5. Valentia, greater part of Northumberland, and Scotland as far 

north as the Forth and Clyde, and the Wall of Antoninus. 

6. Vespasiana, north of the Wall of Antoninus. 

When the Saxons established themselves, each leader pro- 
Saxon bably took to himself the district which he had been 

Divisions. mos t instrumental in conquering ; and by the be- 
ginning of the seventh century these districts formed the 

* Hughes's Geography of British History. 



COUNTIES OF ENGLAND. 115 

Heptarchy, or seven kingdoms, which, according to the 
popular idea, were : 

COUNTIES. 

1. Kent, founded "by Hengist, Kent. 

or his son Eric. 

2. Sussex, or South Saxons, Sussex and Surrey. 

by Ella. 

3. Wessex, or West Saxons, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berks, 

by Cerdic. Dorset, Wilts, Devon. 

4. Essex, or East Saxons, by Essex, Middlesex, part of Herts. 

Ercenwine. 

5. Northumbria, Angles, by Lancaster, York, Durham, Cumber- 

Ella, land, Westmoreland, Northumber- 

land, Scotland to Firth of Edin- 
burgh. 

6. East Anglia, Angles, by Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge. 

Uffa. 

7. Mercia, Angles, by Crida. Midland Districts from the Thames 

to the Humber, and as far west as 
Wales. 

The house of Wessex having gained the ascendency under 
Egbert, a.d. 820, the Heptarchy became in a measure united 
under his crown, and by the time of William of Normandy, 
the kingdom of England was firmly established under one 
sceptre. But either for the convenience of go- 

n , , p.. i t -i Counties. 

vernment, or for the sake ot giving land and 
dignity to some noble or bishop, the country had become sub- 
divided into lesser portions, called shires, from the Saxon 
shetran, to divide, or counties, from being governed by a count 
or earl. It is uncertain at what precise period England was 
thus divided into counties; the process was probably a 
gradual one, but the county system appears to have been well 
established by the time of Edward the Confessor, 1041, and its 
origin dates from before the time of Alfred. In some cases 
the old Saxon states formed the shires, such as Kent, Sussex, 
Essex, &c. ; in other cases the shire was a piece of church 
property, such as Worcestershire ; and in many cases, accord- 
ing to Teutonic usage, the Saxon leaders or kings rewarded 
their chieftains witb allotments of land, upon which they 

i2 



116 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

settled with their families and followers, and which descended 
to their children as a freehold. These landowners, although 
acknowledging a kind of subjection to their sovereign chief, 
were accustomed to associate themselves together to administer 
justice in their own domains, and to settle the affairs of their 
joint districts ; and these associations gave rise to the regular 
system of small local governments into which the shires were 
converted by about the time of Edgar, 950. These govern- 
ments comprehended many smaller subdivisions, most of 
which remain to the present day. The most universal of 
these were the hundreds and tithings ; the tithings consisting 
of ten families, presided over by a tithing-man ; and the hun- 
dreds of twelve tithings presided over by a headborough or 
hundred man ; the whole being under the jurisdiction of the 
earl, or bishop, or sheriff of the county. In the northern 
counties of Northumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, and 
Cumberland, the subdivision was into wards instead of hun- 
dreds, because it is said the people of these border lands had 
to keep ' watch and ward ' against the northern invaders ; 
Yorkshire and part of Lincolnshire were divided into ivapen- 
takes, and Yorkshire had also a threefold division into ridings 
or thrithings. Kent was divided into lathes, and Sussex into 
rapes, the Isle of Man into sheadings, and the Isle of Anglesea 
into cantrefs and comots. The further subdivision into 
parishes is an ecclesiastical one. 

The County-courts or Schy remotes were in the time of the 
County Go- Saxons the most important tribunals in the country ; 
vernment. anc [ ? although their creation is usually attributed to 
Alfred, there is evidence that they were part of the English 
judicial system long before his reign. The present county 
system is founded upon the old usages, and the principal offi- 
cers of a county now are : — 

1. The Lord Lieutenant. — An officer appointed by the 
Crown, and strictly speaking, a representative of the Crown to 
keep the county in military order. But besides this primary 
duty of raising the militia and attending to the military array 
of the county, other offices have been intrusted to him ; for 






COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 117 

instance, he is keeper of the rolls or archives, he appoints the 
clerk of the peace, and the county magistrates. The office 
was first instituted in the reign of Edward VI., 1549. 

2. The High Sheriff — (from shire reve, governor of a 
shire). Annually appointed for the effectual administration 
of the laws. In most cases the Crown appoints the sheriff, 
but some corporations of cities have power to elect their own 
sheriffs. The sheriff derives his authority from two patents : 
one commits the county to his custody ; the other commands 
the inhabitants to aid him in the exercise of his office ; and 
to this end he may summon all the people of his county to 
attend him, which assembling is called the posse comitatus, or 
power of the county. During his period of office the sheriff 
stands first in the county, and is superior in rank to any noble- 
man. He is assisted in the discharge of his function by the 
Under- Sheriff, whom he himself appoints ; and his subordi- 
nates are the constables, gaolers, beadles, &c. Sheriffs are 
said to have been first appointed by William the Conqueror 
in 1079. 

3. The Eeceiver General oe Taxes. — Appointed by the 
Crown, to which he accounts for the taxes in his district. He 
receives also the county- rates, and accounts for them to the 
magistrates at quarter sessions. 

4. Coroner — (from Corona, as it was formerly an office of 
the Crown). Appointed chiefly to - take inquisitions of 
death,' that is, to inquire by a jury of neighbours how or by 
whom any person came to a violent death, and to enter it on 
record ; and also occasionally to take the sheriff's office when 
he is incapable of acting. Elected for life by the free- 
holders in the county-court, but removable by writ, if found 
incompetent for the office. First appointed by Edward L, 
1276. 

5. Justices of the Peace — or County magistrates, ap- 
pointed by the lord lieutenant, and who, assembled in quarter 
sessions, put the statute law into execution against offenders 
and disturbers of the peace, according to the verdict of the 
grand jury, or council of at least twelve men, who inquire into 



118 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

the case of all delinquents. They have the control also of the 
county funds. First nominated by William the Conqueror 
in 1076. 

6. Clerk of the Peace. — Usually an attorney, appointed 
by the justices of the peace or the lord lieutenant, to act as 
their officer at quarter sessions in preparing indictments, filing 
and producing recognizances, &c. 

7. Knights of the Shire — or representatives of the 
county in Parliament. Chosen on the king's writ by the free- 
holders of every county ; that is, by such as hold property in 
the county, the annual rental of which is not less than forty 
shillings, or by occupiers of property to the value of not less 
than 50Z. The office is said to have originated with Simon de 
Montford, Earl of Leicester, in the reign of Henry III., who 
ordered returns to be made of two knights from every shire. 
The knights are still girded with a sword when elected, 
according to the ancient usage. 

The judicial tribunals in each county are the Sessions Court 
and the Assize Court. The sessions courts are held quarterly 
and presided over by the county magistrates, and mostly are 
limited to the trying of minor offences. Established in the 
reign of Edward III. Assize courts (from assideo 1 I sit) are 
much more ancient institutions, although the present form of 
these courts is derived from the statute of Westminster, 
Edward I., 1282. The assizes are held two or three times a 
year, and are presided over by judges, who make the circuit of 
the counties in order to administer justice in civil and criminal 
cases. The general or ordinary circuits take place in the 
spring and summer, and recently it has been found convenient 
in most counties to hold a third or winter assize. Special 
assizes are sometimes held, when a commission is issued to 
take cognizance of some particular cause. The judges' cir- 
cuits are eight in number, viz : Home Circuit ; Oxford ; 
Midland ; Norfolk ; Northern ; Western ; South Wales and 
Chester ; and North Wales and Chester. 

Although the divisions into counties is a political one, there 
are often features, natural and otherwise, which distinguish 



COUNTIES OF ENGLAND. 



119 



one county from another : thus, Yorkshire has its wolds, 
Westmoreland its lakes and mountains, Lincolnshire its fens, 
Lancashire its factories, Cheshire its dairies and salt-works, 
Derbyshire its peak, Cornwall its mines, Hereford its cider- 
orchards, Kent its hops, Wiltshire its downs and antiquities ; 
and, as may be seen from the following list, something of their 
history and natural characteristics may be gathered from the 
names of the counties themselves. 

England is divided into 40 counties ; each of which has 
its county town or centre, where the general business of the 
county is transacted. 

Seven Eastern Counties* 



Northumberland, land north of the 

Humber. 
Durham, from Anglo Saxon deor, 

wild animal, and ham, abode. 
Yorkshire, perhaps from the river 

Ure, part of the Ouse. 
Lincolnshire, from Celtic llyn, lake 

or pool, and Latin colonia. 
Norfolk, north, and Anglo-Saxon 

folc, people. 
Suffolk, south folc 
Essex, east seaxe, Saxons 



CAPITALS. 

Newcastle, on the Tyne. 

Durham, on the Wear. 

York, on the Ouse. 

Lincoln, on the Witham. 

Norwich, on the Yare. 

Ipswich, on the Orwell. 
Chelmsford, on the Chelmer. 



Ten Southern Counties. 
Kent, from a Celtic word, meaning Maidstone, on the Medway. 



projection. 
Sussex, suth, south; seaxe, Saxons. . 
Surrey, suth and ea, land near water; 

or rica, a kingdom. 
Berkshire, bare-oak-shire, from the 

polled oaks in Windsor Forest. 
Hampshire (including Isle of Wight), 

ham-ton-shire, from ham, abode, 

and ton, town. 



Chichester, on the Levant. 
Guildford, on the Wey. 

Beading, on the Kennet. 

Winchester. 



* The derivation of these names has been mostly copied from Corn- 
well's School Geography. 



120 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Wiltshire, from Wilton, a town on 
the Wily. 

Dorsetshire, contraction of Dorches- 
tershire, from Celtic dwr, water. 

Somersetshire .... 

Devonshire 

Cornwall (including the Scilly 
Isles), from Celtic cernyw, horn, 
and Anglo-Saxon walli, foreign. 
The first part of the name was 
given by the Britons from its 
shape ; the second by the Saxons, 
because the Britons were foreigners 
to them. 



CAPITALS. 

Salisbury, on the Avon. 

Dorchester, on the Frome. 

Bath, on the Lower Avon. 
Exeter, on the Ex. 
Launceston, on the Tamar, 



Seven Western Counties. 



Monmouth ..... 

Hereford, from Anglo-Saxon here, 
an army, and ford, where the army 
crossed the river. 

Shropshire, contraction of Shrews- 
bury, Anglo-Saxon scrobb, a shrub, 
and burk, town, i. e. the town 
amongst shrubs. 

Cheshire, formerly Chestershire, 
from Anglo-Saxon ceaster, a forti- 
fication. ■ 

Lancashire, from lune and ceaster . 

Westmoreland, Anglo-Saxon mor, a 
moor, 

Cumberland, comb, valley. Part of 
the Cumbria of the Britons. 



Monmouth, on the Wye. 
Hereford, on the Wye. 



Shrewsbury, on the Severn. 



Chester, on the Dee. 



Lancaster, on the Lune. 
y, on the Eden. 



Carlisle, on the Eden. 



Sixteen Midland Counties. 

Derby, from deor, wild animal, and Derby, on the Derwent. 

by, Danish for dwelling. 
Nottingham, ham, home ; rest of the 

derivation uncertain. 
Stafford, Anglo-Saxon staef, staff 

or pole, and ford. 
Leicester, from Leir, the old name 

of the Soar, and ceaster. 



Nottingham, on the Trent. 
Stafford, on the Sow. 
Leicester, on the Soan. 



COUNTIES OF WALES. 



121 



Butland, Anglo-Saxon rude, red, and 

land, some parts of the soil being 

reddish. 
Worcester, ceaster, the rest doubtful. 
Warwick, Anglo-Saxon waering, a 

bulwark, and wic, dwelling. 
Northampton, north-ham-ton . 
Huntingdon, Anglo-Saxon hunt, and 

dun, a hill ; i. e. hunter's hill. 
Cambridge, bridge over the Cam 
Gloucester, perhaps from Celtic 

glow, strong, and ceaster. 
Oxford, the ford of oxen 
Buckingham, Anglo-Saxon hoc, a 

beech- tree, and ham, a dwelling 

among the beech-trees. 
Bedford, Anglo-Saxon bedician, to 

fortify, -and ford. 
Hertford, Anglo-Saxon heart, sl 

stag, and ford. 
Middlesex, middle-seaxe, or Saxons. 



CAPITALS. 

Oakham, on the Wreak. 



Worcester, on the Severn. 
Warwick, on the Avon. 

Northampton, on the Nene. 
Huntingdon, on the Great Ouse. 

Cambridge, on the Cam. 
Gloucester, on the Severn. 

Oxford, on the Thames or Isis, 
Buckingham, on the Great Ouse. 



Bedford, on the Great Ouse. 
Hertford, on the Ware. 
London, on the Thames. 



WALES. 

Wales has twelve counties : six in North Wales, and six in 
South Wales. 

North Wales. 

Flint Flint, on the Dee. 

Denbigh Denbigh. 

*C^rnarvon, from caer, a fort . Caernarvon, on the Menai Strait. 

Anglesea, Angle's ey, or English- Beaumaris, on the Menai Strait. 

man's island. 

Merioneth . . " . . . Dolgelly, on the Maw. 

Montgomery ..... Montgomery, 



South Wales. 



Cardigan 
Pembroke 



Cardigan, on the Teify. 
Pembroke, 



* The car, which occurs in many Welch names, is the same as the 
Saxon ceaster and the Latin castrum. 



122 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

CAPITALS. 

Caermartheist, formerly Caer-Mard- Caermarthen, on the Towy. 
dyn. 

Glamorgan Cardiff, on the Severn. 

Brecknock Brecknock, on the Usk. 

Eadnor . . . . . . Badnor, on the Somerjah. 



DIVISIONS OF SCOTLAND. 

The colony of Scots who came over from Ireland into Scot- 
land at the beginning of the sixth century, took possession of 
Earl the district now forming Argyleshire, and called it 

Divisions. Dalraida, which they occupied for 300 years ; 
while the rest of the country north of the Forth and Clyde 
was the kingdom of the Highland and Lowland Picts. In 
843, Kenneth MacAlpin, king of Dalraida, gained possession 
of the whole of this territory, which was from that time called 
Albania, until about the middle of the tenth century, when 
the name was changed to that of Scotland, while the country 
south of the Forth and Clyde was divided into three districts, 
inhabited by different tribes : 1. Lodonia, comprising the 
Lothians and other south counties, inhabited by Angles ; 2. 
Strathclyde, including Lanark, Eenfrew, and North Ayrshire, 
inhabited by Cymri ; 3. Galloway, including Kirkcudbright, 
Wigton, and South Ayrshire, supposed to have been inhabited 
by Picts. 

In 1085, the whole of Scotland, with the exception of the 
extreme north, was brought under subjection to one king, 
Malcolm Canmore, and in 1493, the last Lords of the Isles, 
the Macdonalds of the north, were finally subjugated by 
James I., and from that time the whole of Scotland was nomi- 
nally ruled by one sceptre until its union with England. 

The division of Scotland into counties or earldoms, and the 
establishment of sheriffs and county-courts, are supposed to 
have existed as early as the twelfth century. Scotland has 
three criminal circuits, viz : South, West, and North, which 
take place in spring and autumn, and an additional court is 
held at Glasgow at Christmas. 



COUNTIES OF SCOTLAND. 



123 



Scotland is divided into 33 counties : they differ much 
in size, Inverness, the largest, being 91 times larger than 
Clackmannan, the smallest. Some of them, such as Cromarty, 
are made up of several detached portions. 



Ten Highland Counties. 



Aberdeen, from aber, mouth, and 

Dee. 
Banff ..... 

Moray, or Elgin 

Nairn 

Inverness, including part of the 

Hebrides. 
Eoss, including the north portion 

of the Hebrides. 

Cromarty 

Sutherland .... 
Caithness ..... 
Orkney and Shetland 



CHIEF TOWNS. 

Aberdeen, on the Dee. 

Banff, on the D ever on. 
Elgin, on the Lossie. 
Nairn, on the Nairn. 
Inverness, on the Ness. 

Dingwall. 

Cromarty. 

Dornoch. 

Wick. 

Kirkwall and Lerwick. 



TJiirteen Lowland Counties. 



Edinburgh, or Mid -Lothian 

Haddington, or East Lothian 

Linlithgow, or West Lothian 

Berwick . 

Roxburgh 

Selkirk 

Peebles 

Dumfries . 

Ejrkcudbright 

Wigtown . 

Ayr . 

Renfrew . 

Lanark 



Edinburgh, on the Frith of Forth. 

Haddington, on the Tyne. 

Linlithgow, on the Avon. 

Dunse, on the White Adden. 

Jedburgh, on the Jed. 

Selkirk, on the Ettrick. 

Peebles, on the Tweed. 

Dumfries, on the Nith. 

Kirkcudbright, on the Dee, 

Wigtown. 

Ayr, on the Ayr. 

Benfrew. 

Lanark. ■ 



Ten Central Counties. 



Fife . 
Ejnross 
Clackmannan 
Bute 



Cupar. 

Kinross, on the Leven. 
Clackmannan. 
Bothsay. 



124 



THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Argyll 
Stirling 
Dumbarton- 
Perth 

Angus, or Forfar 
Kincardine 



CHIEF TOWNS. 

Inverary. 

Stirling, on the Forth. 

Dumbarton. 

Perth, on the Tay. 

Forfar, on the Dean. 

Stonehaven. 



DIVISIONS OF IKELAND. 

Before its conquest by the English in 1172, Ireland had 
Early been a monarchy ; but it was also divided into king- 

Divisions, doms, each ruled by its own petty prince, although 
all were tributary and subject to the sovereign. These king- 
doms or provinces were five in number, and formed what is 
called the Irish Pentarchy : they were, Connaught, Munster, 
Ulster, Leinster, and Meath. Afterwards, Leinster and Meath 
became merged in the province of Leinster. In the twelfth 
year of King John's reign, almost the whole of Ireland was 
divided into shires ; but Connaught maintained long a kind 
of independence, and did not become permanently shire land 
until the reign of Elizabeth in 1562. 

Ireland is divided into 4 provinces : Ulster, Leinster, Con- 
naught, and Munster, and into 32 counties. 





Ulster, 9 Counties, 


Antrim 


Belfast, on the Lagan. 


Londonderry 


Londonderry, on the Foyle 


Donegal 


Lifford, on the Foyle. 


Tyrone 


Omagh, on the Mourne. 


Fermanagh 


EnnisJcillen, on the Erne. 


Cavan 


Cavan, on the Erne. 


MONAGHAN . 


Monaghan. 


Armagh 


Armagh, on the Callen. 


Down 


Downjpatrick, 




Leinster, 12 Counties. 


Louth 


LundalTc. 


Meath 


Trim, on the Boyne. 


Westmeath 


Mullingar. 



GOVEKNMENT OF ADJACENT ISLES. 



125 





CHIEF TOWNS. 


Longford . 


Longford, on the Camliru 


King's County . 


Tullamore. 


Queen's County . 


Maryborough. 


KlLDARE 


Kildare. 


Dublin 


Dublin. 


Wicklow 


JVicklow. 


"Wexford 


Wexford. 


Carlow 


Carlow. 


Kilkenny . 


Kilkenny. 


Munster, 6 Counties, 


TlPPERARY . 


Clonmel. 


"Waterford 


Waterford, on the Suir. 


Cork .... 


Cork, on the Lee. 


Kerry 


Tralee, on the Lee. 


Limerick 


Limerick, on the Shannon, 


Clare .... 


Ennis. 


Connaught, 


5 Counties. 


Galway 


Galway, on the Corrib. 


Mayo .... 


Castlebar, on the Castleton 


Sligo . 


Sligo, on the Grarvogue. 


Leitrim 


Car rick on Shannon. 


EOSCOMMON . 


Boscommon, on the Suck. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE ADJACENT ISLANDS. 

The islands lying near the coast, such as Bute, Wight, 
Anglesey, are within the judges' circuits, and either form 
counties in themselves, or are part of adjoining counties ; but 
the more distant islands, although under imperial jurisdiction, 
have local legislatures peculiar to each. 

Thus the Isle of Man (capital, Castletown), is still nomi- 
nally a distinct kingdom, although the sovereignty of the 
island has been ceded to the Crown by its last owners, the 
Dukes of Athol ; and like the colonies, it has its lieutenant- 
governor, appointed by the Crown, and its local parliament^ 
The House of Keys, composed of 24 of the leading land- 
owners. The island is divided into 6 sheadings. 



126 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

In the Scilly Isles (capital, St. Mary), civil jurisdiction 
has been usually administered by a council of 12, nominated 
by the lessee of the islands ; capital offenders only being tried 
at Penzance. 

Guernsey (capital, St. Peter Port), is divided only into 
parishes. Its legislative body is the l States of Deliberation,' 
composed of the bailiff of the royal court, appointed by the 
Crown, and 12 jurats appointed by the islanders. The royal 
court is the chief court of justice in the island. 

Jersey (capital, St. Helier), is also divided into parishes, 
and the * States of Jersey ' form a local legislature similar to 
that of Guernsey. 

Alderney and SarJc are dependencies of Guernsey, but 
Alderney has a sort of local assembly of 12 douzainiers, or 
representatives of the people, who have the power of delibe- 
rating but not of voting ; and in Sark, the power of making 
local laws is vested in a little parliament composed of the lord 
of the manor and 40 copyholders. 

The political constitutions of the whole group are generally 
under the superintendence of the Secretary of State for the 
Home Department, and final appeal may be made to the 
Crown from all their courts. 

TOWNS. 

The word town is from the Anglo-Saxon tun, which 
again is from the verb tynan, to enclose, and means chief resi- 
. dence ; and this tun or ton, forming as it does the last 
Names of syllable of an immense number of English names of 
towns, points to the time when such places were the 
township or chief residence of early Saxon settlers, to whom 
they had probably been allotted by the sovereign chieftain. 
Most of the towns of England are as old as the Saxon period, 
and the name of the settlers is generally contained in the first 
part of the name of the town : thus, Warrington was the family 
seat of the Wirings ; Ardington of the Ardings ; Bletchington 
of Bleccingas ; Harlington of the Harlings. Sometimes mem- 
bers of the same family or tribe seem to have settled in different 



TOWNS. 127 

places : thus, the Hannings have given their name to three 
Hanningtons, in Northamptonshire, Hampshire, and Wilt- 
shire, and two villages in Essex are named after them. Often 
the clan or family name is joined to the termination of ham, 
which is Anglo-Saxon for residence or home, being the same 
as the German heim ; as in Birmingham, the residence of the 
Beormingas, the descendants or clan of Beorm ; Buckingham, 
the residence of the Bucingas. Sometimes the same family 
name ends in ton in one place, and in ham in another : thus, 
the Bossingas are found at Bossingham in Kent, and Bossing- 
ton in Hampshire and Somersetshire ; the Wselsings, who 
were apparently a branch of the old Volsungars of the Edda, 
are found at Walsinghani in Durham and Norfolk, and at 
Woolsington in Northumberland ; and several other names 
met with in Scandinavian romance may be traced in our fami- 
liar English appellations : thus, the Scyldings and the Brent- 
ings are found in Skillington in Dorset, and Brantingham in 
Yorkshire. Sometimes many different terminations are met 
with to the same name, which is supposed to indicate that the 
various settlers, although belonging to the same clan, were of 
different races and spoke a different dialect. Thus, the Bil- 
lingas and their followers appear to have spread themselves 
all the country over, for we find them at Billingham in Dur- 
ham, at Billington in Lancashire, Bedford and many other 
places, at BiDingley in Yorkshire, at Billinghay in Lincoln- 
shire, at Billinghurst in Sussex, and at Billingsgate in London. 
Wic or wich, forming the ending of many names of towns, also 
means dwelling or town, as in Warwick, Sandwich, Nantwich, 
and even London is called sometimes Lunden-wic in old 
phraseology. 

In many cases, the Saxons seem to have anglicised the 
former Latin name, as in Stratford, Streatham, Stretton, which 
are all composed of the Eoman strata, way or street, and a 
Saxon termination. Towns that were once Eoman stations 
may be known by the cester, caster, Chester, in England, or 
caer in Wales, and are all derived from the Latin castrum, 
a fortified place, as in Lancaster, Dorchester, Caernarvon. 



128 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

Often the name is merely Roman anglicised, as Manchester, 
the ancient Mancunium of the Eomans ; Lincoln, the Latin 
Lindum-Colonia. 

Many names have evidently reference to the natural features 
of the place ; as Lewes, pastures, Beverly, a place of beavers, 
and also the vast variety that end in dale, field, ford or bridge ; 
and still more often the town is named from the river on which 
it stands, as Cambridge. 

Those names ending in by, bye, or high, show a Danish occu- 
pation, and are the most prevalent in Lincolnshire ; by being 
also a common termination in Denmark. 

Bury or borough, also a common termination, is from the 
Anglo-Saxon by rig or bwrli, and means a fortification by walls 
or mounds ; and the boroughs up to the time of the Conquest . 
consisted mostly of the towns that were enclosed by the 
Eoman towers and walls. The term was also applied to such 
towns as were governed by an officer of their own election, 
called a borough-reve or port-reve. At the time of the Con- 
quest London was called London-burgh, from its having 
received the right of such government. Since the time of 
Henry III., the word borough became affixed to such towns 
as sent burgesses as representatives to Parliament. 

A town at the present day means a large assemblage of 
houses, to which a market is generally attached. 
tionof I owns that are governed by their own elected 

officers are called corporate towns ; those which are 
also the seat of a bishop's see and have a cathedral church are 
called cities — a term that has only been in use since the Con- 
quest ; those which send members to Parliament are called 
boroughs; those which have none of these privileges are 
called country-towns. Charters that gave the right of self- 
government were first granted to towns by Edward the Con- 
fessor. Burgesses, or free citizens (from the French bourgeois), 
were first admitted into Parliament, in England, in the reign 
of Henry III., a.d. 1265; in Scotland, 1326; in Ireland, 
about 1365 ; and the term burgess was originally applied 



MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT. 129 

only to those who possessed land within the boundaries of the 
town. 

Since the Municipal Act of 1835, the local legislature, or 
governing council of such towns as are under the Act, con- 
sists of a mayor, aldermen, and councillors, to be elected as 
follows : the mayor to be elected annually by the council 
from amongst the aldermen or councillors ; the aldermen to 
be elected every third year by the council for the time from 
amongst the councillors ; the councillors to be elected by the 
burgesses of the borough, one third going out of office every 
year, and one third of the number elected annually. 

Mayors are the chief magistrates of corporate towns, and the 
office dates from the time of Richard I., 1189, when Henry 
Fitz Alwyhn, the first Lord Mayor of London, remained in 
office 24 years. The Norman title of maire was applied to 
the governor of a town in the previous reign of Henry II. , 
before which time they were usually called port-reeves. Mayors 
retain their office as borough- magistrates for one year after 
their mayoralty expires. 

Aldermen (from the Saxon Ealdorman, a senior) were until 
the year 882 governors of provinces or districts ; but Henry 
III. is said to have created the office of city-alderman, next 
in dignity to that of mayor. 

Many of our municipal institutions are traced back to those 
privileges of self-government which were granted by the 
Romans to the large fortified British towns, called by them 
Colonia and Municipia, and which were made by these means 
centres of civilisation, and strongholds for the defence of the 
country. The present names of some of our municipal offi- 
cers are said to be clearly derived from this old Eoman source. 
Afterwards, in Saxon times, these important municipal centres 
often gave their names to the county in which they were situ- 
ated, and were called by distinction County Towns, and most 
of them contain some ancient edifice, some castle, or fortress, 
or cathedral, which tells of their origin and position in past 
ages. But as the industrial age succeeded to the chivalrous 
and feudal, and England became more and more a commer- 



130 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

cial country, other towns, more convenient for trading and 
manufacturing purposes, sprang into still higher importance, 
and have eclipsed in many cases the old county-towns ; hence 
a capital town and a county town are not always the same. 
By the last census (1861) it is found that the county-towns 
are generally on the decline. Out of the 40 ancient English 
county-towns, in only one, Newcastle, which is a trading as 
well as county-town, has the increase been equal to that of 
other provincial towns ; while in several, such as Warwick, 
Gloucester, Cambridge, Caernarvon, Lancaster, the population 
has positively decreased. 

CAPITAL TOWNS. 
LONDON: METROPOLIS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 

The history of London dates as far back as any authentic 
Ancient history of our island itself. Before the coming of 
London, the Romans, there stood on the banks of the Thames 
the capital of the kingdom of the Trinobantes, the old British 
town of Llyn-din, or ' town on the lake ; ' marshes to the 
north of it, the river to the south, and impenetrable forests to 
the west. By the Romans this town of Llyn-din was enlarged 
so as to extend to both sides of the Thames, was enclosed by a 
Roman wa ^ excepting on the river side, and became Lon- 
London. dinium, or Augusta Colonia ; first mentioned by 
Tacitus as a great mart of commerce and residence of mer- 
chants. This Roman wall, beginning near the Tower, and 
running along the Minories, Cripplegate, Newgate, and Lud- 
gate, enclosed a space three miles round, and had fifteen 
towers. Antiquarians tell us that the prsetorium, or seat of the 
Roman governor, stood where Cornhill and the Poultry now 
are ; that a Roman cemetery lies under Spitalfields ; and that 
in the centre of the city, on the site of St. Paul's, was erected a 
temple to Diana. Often in digging from twelve to twenty 
feet below the surface in the city, traces of Roman floors and 
pavements lie revealed, shewing that the general level of the 
streets was by so much lower in those days. 

In the sixth century, under the Saxon rule, London became 



CAPITAL TOWNS: LONDON. 131 

the capital of the kingdom of Essex, and at this time we find the 
name sometimes anglicised into Lundiniumceaster, or Saxon 
Lunden-wic. In this century also London was made London. 
a bishop's see, and in 604, Sebert, king of Essex, built a cathe- 
dral to St. Paul, on the site of the present church, and an 
abbey to St. Peter, on the site of Westminster abbey; while 
the palace of the Anglo-Saxon kings stood on the river-bank 
near the cathedral. 

Under Alfred the Great, 804, London became the metropolis 
of England; but the old town of Winchester, or TheE lish 
Witanceaster, which had been the capital of the Capital. 
West Saxons, was long a rival for the honour of this title, 
and did not finally yield it to London till after the reign of 
Henry II. Together with other towns, London was made a 
corporate town by Edward the Confessor, and their corpo- 
rate and other privileges were confirmed to the citizens by 
William the Conqueror, who was the first to grant them a 
charter of rights ; * and the special immunities and privileges 
inherited by the citizens through this and subsequent charters 
rendered the corporation of London a powerful body in the 
state, and greatly advanced its interest as a free commercial 
town. The extent to which trade, in all its branches, was 
promoted in London from early times is shewn by the number 
of Guilds, or corporate bodies, that were formed to protect the 
interests of special trades and commercial undertakings, and 
which held so honourable a position that nobles and even 
kings were often amongst their members. Among the most an- 
cient of these city companies was the Steel- Yard Company, a so- 
ciety of German and Flemish merchants, to whom Henry III. 

* - This charter is written in beautiful Saxon characters on a slip of 
parchment six inches long and one broad, and is in English as follows : 
" William the king greeteth William the bishop, and Godfrey the port- 
reve, and all the burgesses within London, friendly. And I acquaint 
you that I will that ye be all there law- worthy, as ye were in King 
Edward's days. And I will that every child be his father's heir after 
his father's days. And I will not suffer that any man do you any wrong. 
God preserve you." ' — Hadyn's Dictionary. 

k2 



132 THE BRITISH ISLES, 

granted permission to establish a factory in the Steel-yard, 
near Dowgate, between Thames Street and the river, and who 
for many years were the only exporters of the produce of 
England. At the present time no less than ninetj^-one of 
these guilds exist, twelve of which, established between the 
fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, are styled, for distinction, 
c Honourable.' These are, the Grocers, Mercers, Goldsmiths, 
Skinners, Drapers, Fishmongers, Merchant Tailors, Haber- 
dashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers. 
Of these trades, the Grocers is one of the most ancient, and 
takes its name from the guild, meaning originally ' engrosser, 
or monopoliser.' The Mercers' Company was founded in 1393, 
a few years before Sir Richard Whittington of story-book 
celebrity, a rich citizen and mercer of London and a munifi- 
cent benefactor to the metropolis, was ' thrice lord mayor.' 
During his lifetime, Guildhall was built for the use of the 
various companies, and on its completion in 1419, Whitting- 
ton entertained there Henry V., and report says, gave proof of 
his immense wealth by munificently throwing into a fire made 
of sjDices, bonds of the gallant monarch for moneys lent him to 
the value of ^60,000. The Merchant Tailors' Company is 
noticeable as having numbered among its members no less 
than seven kings, beginning at Eichard II. and ending with 
Henry VII. Only three of these guilds are actual trading 
companies at the present day — the Goldsmiths, Apothecaries, 
and Stationers ; all of which have their special jurisdiction 
over the trade : but all the great companies of London have 
their corresponding halls. 

The two cities of London and Westminster were for many 
years separate and distinct cities, London being inhabited 
chiefly by Scots, and Westminster by English. The union of 
the crowns tended to unite the two; after which the Scots 
greatly multiplied about the suburbs, so that an old writer, 
Howell, remarks that ' London was like a Jesuit's hat, wider 
in the brim than in the block.' 

One or two facts and dates will show something of the 
progress and improvement in the aspect of London. In 






LONDON. 133 

Henry III.'s reign, the town was first guarded by a watch, who 
perambulated the dark and narrow streets through the night, 
and struck the hours upon a bell, there being no public clocks. 
In Henry Y.'s reign, the streets were lighted with lanterns. 
In 1533, they were first paved ; and not, it seems, before it was 
needed, since the paving Act described the streets as - very 
foul, and full of pits and sloughs, very perilous and noyous, as 
well for all the king's subjects on horseback as on foot.' 
Holinshed, writing about this time, speaks of London as 
having a very mean appearance in comparison with foreign 
cities ; and the foreigners who came over with Philip II. 
describe the houses as being built with i sticks and dirt.' In 
1588, the Thames water was first conveyed into the town by 
leaden pipes. Hackney coaches were first used in Charles I.'s 
reign. The streets were first lighted by oil-lamps in 1681, 
and gas was first used for that purpose in 1809. In 1829, the 
new police system was established in the metropolis. 

Modern London is the largest and wealthiest city in the 
world. Although other cities may equal or surpass Modern 
it in individual respects, no other city combines in London, 
such variety the elements of greatness ; and, regarded as the 
great emporium of trade and commerce, the central point 
where congregate merchants from all parts of the world, and 
as the seat of civilization and intelligence the most advanced 
in the world, it is doubtful if there could be another metro- 
polis equal to it on the face of the earth. The importance of 
London has necessarily kept pace with the growth of the 
empire, and it is now the mighty heart of a giant system, the 
pulsations of which correspond with exactness to each throb 
of its innumerable members, even though the space of half the 
globe may intervene. 

London is ten miles long and seven miles broad, and covers 
thirty-two square miles. The portion of the metropolis called 
the City lies in the centre, and includes those districts into 
which the municipal franchises and privileges extend, and is 
divided into two parts, ' London within the Walls,' and i Lon- 
don without the Walls ; ' although the old walls which once 



134 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

made this division no longer exist. The old boundaries of the 
city, and its numerous gates and entrances, are still to be 
discerned in the names of certain localities; for instance, 
Aldgate or (Eldgate, where stood the oldest gate probably in 
the whole city, defending the approach by the highway from 
Essex ; Newgate, opened in the time of Henry I., to enable 
persons to pass out westward, there being then only three 
other gates, Aldgate, Aldersgate, and Ludgate ; Bishopsgate, 
built about the reign of Henry II., to guard the road from 
Cambridge ; Cripplegate, l so called of cripples begging there ; ' 
and Moorgate, built on the moor side, in Henry V.'s reign, 
' for the ease of citizens that way to pass upon causeys (cause- 
ways) into the fields for their recreation.'* Other gates, such 
as Billingsgate and Dowgate, were only landing-places on the 
river side, and the bars of Temple Bar, Holborn, and Smith- 
field, were smaller barriers to the City without the walls. 
The only one of the city boundaries now remaining is Temple 
Bar, so called from the ancient dwelling-house of the Knights- 
Templars situated there. 

The City is divided into twenty-six wards, which are under 
the jurisdiction of the lord maj^or, twenty-five aldermen, two 
sheriffs, and the common councilmen. The whole metropolis 
consists of seven divisions, viz. the city of London, the city 
of Westminster, and the boroughs of Marylebone, Finsbury, 
the Tower Hamlets, Southwark, and Lambeth. It returns 
sixteen members to the House of Commons, four for the city, 
and two for each of the boroughs, and Westminster. 

London is not regarded as a manufacturing town only 

Mann- because it is so far greater in its other aspects ; 

factnres. otherwise its manufactures are of the highest order. 
Here are the largest breweries, distilleries, and sugar-refineries, 
and some of the most considerable shipyards in the kingdom ; 
and as the great workshop of all connected with science, litera- 
ture, and the arts, it is unrivalled. It was formerly the only 
seat of the broad silk manufacture in England, which trade is 

* Chambers' Popular Antiquities. 



EDINBURGH. 135 

now carried on at Spitalfields and Bethnal Green. Clerken- 
well is the chief watch-making district, Bermondsey the chief 
district of tanneries, and Lambeth of soap-making and 
foundries. 

The population of London at the last census (1861) was 
2,803,034, being as many as that of the three largest capitals 
in Europe together, viz. Paris, Constantinople, and St. Peters- 
burgh. 

EDINBURGH : CAPITAL OF SCOTLAND. 

The Old Town of Edinburgh, standing nobly in the midst of 
a group of hills to the south of the Firth of Forth, is 
said to have been named after a King Edwin of 
Northumbria in the time of the Heptarchy, and is first men- 
tioned in the eighth century as the town of ' Edwinesburc.' As 
early as the twelfth century it is spoken of as a royal burgh, 
that is, a town governed by bailiffs who were appointed by the 
king ; but it does not appear to have been a fortified town 
until the fifteenth century, when King James II. of Scotland 
granted the citizens i full license and leiff to fosse, bulwark, 
wall, tour, turale, and other ways to strength the burgh, in 
quhat maner of wise or degree that beis sene maist spedeful to 
thaim.' In 1437 Edinburgh became the acknowledged capital 
of Scotland. 

The Old Town is chiefly remarkable for its picturesqueness, 
its narrow, ill-drained streets, its many-storied houses, and its 
inconvenient situation ; being built upon the slope of a hill, 
which ascends from the palace of Ho:yrood on the east, to the 
castle on the summit. The old castle of Edinburgh, supposed 
to have been built by the Saxon King Edwin before the town 
itself, and before the district came into the possession of the 
Scots, stands on its rock, 434 feet above the sea level, the 
most ancient monument of the past, and fitting companion of 
the noble heights in its neighbourhood — Pentland Hills on 
the west, and Calton Hill, Arthur's Seat, and Salisbury Craigs 
on the east. 

To the north of the Old Town, on a rising ground, the 



136 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

highest point of which is Calton Hill, stands the New Town,— 
^ the modern Athens, as it has been called, on account 

New Town. . . _ '. 

oi the beauty of its architecture, — and which commu- 
nicates with the Old Town over the mounds of rubbish that 
have been cast up in laying its foundation, and which have 
bridged over the morass that formerly divided the two sites. 
These two towns, and what is called the Southern Districts, 
constitute the capital of Edinburgh. 

Edinburgh ranks far higher as a seat of learning than as a 
manufacturing or commercial town, and owes chiefly its renown 
in modern times to its university. 

The government of the town is vested in a magistracy and 
town-council, the chief magistrate being the lord provost, 
elected every three years. The city returns two members to 
Parliament. The population of Edinburgh in 1861 was 
168,121. 

DUBLIN: CAPITAL OF IRELAND. 

One tradition says that Dublin was built, a.d. 150, by Alpi- 
nus, an Irish chieftain, who i brought the then rude rock into 
the form of a town, and called it Auliana, in memory of his 
daughter who was drowned in the ford, which name Auliana 
was changed into Eblana by Ptolemy, and became transformed 
into Dublana.' A more probable account is that Dublin is 
a variety of the Irish Dubh-lim, or black-pool, and in old 
documents it is written Dyfiin or Dyvelin. During the first 
centuries Dublin was occupied first by Norwegians, and then by 
Danes, who carried on constant warfare with the native Irish. 
Under the Anglo-Norman rule the city began to increase in 
importance. The town stands on each side of the river Liffey 
at its entrance into Dublin Bay, and in the thirteenth century 
the stone bridge was built which connects the divided por- 
tions. About the same time the town was fortified and the 
castle built. As a trading port Dublin has a better and more 
central position than either London or Edinburgh ; but as a 
manufacturing town it is unimportant. It is an archbishopric, 
a university town, and the residence of the vice-regal 



ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 137 

governor, the lord-lieutenant of Ireland. The borough of 
Dublin returns two members to the imperial parliament, and 
its local government consists of fifteen aldermen and forty-five 
councillors, one of whom is annually elected lord mayor. 
Population in 1861, 295,964. 

ECCLESIASTICAL CENTEES. 

CHURCH OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 

Since the Eeformation the sovereign of England has taken 
the place of the Pope as head of the Church ; but only with 
regard to its temporal affairs. The Church of England is an 
Episcopacy ; that is, it is governed by bishops ; the word 
' bishop' being from the Anglo-Saxon piscop, derived from the 
Eoman episcopus, which again was a corruption of the Greek 
F.TrLaKOTroc, the title given by the Athenians to their city 
inspectors. This form of church government dates from the 
second century in England and Ireland, and from the fourth 
century in Scotland ; that is, it is about coeval with the 
establishment of Christianity in the kingdom. The principle 
of episcopacy is, that Holy Orders, that is, the divine right to 
minister in the church, are conferred by the laying on of 
hands in apostolic succession, bishop consecrating bishop in a 
regular series from the Apostles. Archbishops and bishops 
are appointed by the crown through the ministry. The 
district over which the bishop presides is called a see or 
diocese, from the Eoman name of diocese given to the divisions 
of the empire in the time of Constantine. The diocese is 
divided into parishes, and the centre of the diocese is the 
cathedral, the see or secies of the bishop ; and the town in 
which the cathedral is situated gives its name to the bishopric. 
All the bishops are, to a certain extent, under the jurisdiction, 
or suffragan.) to the archbishops ; but the archbishop has also 
his own special diocese. Subordinate to the bishops are the 
deans, archdeacons, precentors, chancellors, canons, priest- 
vicars, and other officers who belong to the cathedral, and 
form what is called the Chapter, and who in former times used 



138 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

to reside with the bishop in the cathedral or chapter-house ; 
and also the incumbents, the rectors, vicars, and curates, 
whose duties lie in the parishes. 

The general government of the church is administered by 
Convocations of the Clergy, or assemblies of the clergy of the 
kingdom, convened by the crown at the meeting of every new 
parliament. The archbishops each summon the clergy of 
their own province, and the assembly meets in parliamentary 
form, the bishops forming an upper house and the inferior 
clergy a lower house, presided over by a prolocutor or 
speaker. 

ARCHBISHOPRICS. 

There are two archbishoprics of England, viz. Canterbury 
and York. 

Canterbury, the Caer-Cant, or city of Kent, of the Saxons, 
and the Cantuaria of the Romans, was first made the eccle- 
siastical capital of England by Pope Gregory 1. a.d. 597, and 
his missionary, St. Augustin, was its first archbishop. In 
1073 a dispute for precedence arose between Canterbury 
and York, York claiming to have been the metropolitan see 
from a still earlier period ; but the court of Rome decided in 
favour of Canterbury, and, by way of pacifying York, allowed 
its archbishop to style himself Primate of England, while 
Canterbury was distinguished as Primate of all England. 

As Primate of all England, the Archbishop of Canterbury 
holds rank as the first peer of the realm after the royal family, 
and has the title of Grace. His income is 15,000Z. per annum. 
His ecclesiastical province extends over twenty-one dioceses, 
viz. Canterbury, London, Winchester, Ely, Lincoln, Rochester, 
Lichfield and Coventry, Hereford, Worcester, Bath and 
Wells, Salisbury, Exeter, Chichester, Norwich, Gloucester and 
Bristol, Oxford, Peterborough, in England ; and Bangor, 
LlandafF, St. David's, St. Asaph's, in Wales. The jurisdic- 
tion formerly extended to Ireland, and then the archbishop 
was styled patriarch. 

York, the Eboracum of the Romans, and their chief station 



ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 139 

in the north, and afterwards the capital of the Saxon kingdom 
of Northumbria, was constituted an archbishopric by Pope 
Gregory I. a.d. 622. It was also the metropolitan see of 
Scotland till the year 1464, when the Scottish bishops re- 
fused their allegiance, and forthwith had archbishops of their 
own. The ecclesiastical province of York consists of seven 
dioceses, viz. York, Manchester, Carlisle, Chester, Durham, 
Ripon, Sodor and Man. Income, 10,000Z. 

BISHOPRICS. 

There are 26 bishoprics in England and Wales, and about 
17,000 clergy. The Bishops of London, Winchester, and 
Durham have precedence of all bishops ; the others rank ac- 
cording to priority of consecration. The spiritual title of 
bishops is Right Reverend Father in God ; their secular title is 
lord, since William the Conqueror converted their benefices 
into baronies ; and by statute of Henry VII. their rank was 
settled to be that of barons of the realm, and next to viscounts. 
By this right the bishops have a seat in the House of Lords. 
The dioceses are as follow : 

Province of Canterbury. 

Canterbury.— This diocese comprises part of Kent and 
part of Surrey. Number of its benefices, 352. Canterbury 
cathedral was founded in the time of Henry L, 1130, and was 
built in the early Norman style. At one time it was called 
St. Thomas, from the murder of Thomas-a-Becket before its 
altar. 

London. — Middlesex, part of Essex, Kent and Surrey. In- 
come, 10,000Z. Benefices, 324. London was first made a 
bishop's see in the sixth century, Eestitutus being the first 
bishop ; and in 604, Sebert, King of Essex, built a cathedral 
to St. Paul, on the site, it is supposed, of an old Christian 
church built in the time of the Eomans ; and also an abbey to 
St. Peter at Westminster. Sebert's church of St. Paul was 
burnt down in 1086, and a second was erected which was 



140 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

burnt down in the great fire of London, in 1666. The present 
church was built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1710. The 
church of Westminster was rebuilt by Edward the Confessor 
for a Benedictine monastery, and became an episcopal see 
under Henry VIII. The present edifice was gradually raised 
under its successive abbots, chiefly in the reigns of Henry III. 
and Henry VII., and Sir Christopher Wren put the finishing 
touch by adding the two western towers. These churches of 
St. Paul's and Westminster are the two cathedral centres of 
the London diocese. 

Winchester. — Hampshire, part of Surrey, the Isle of 
Wight and the Channel Islands. Benefices, 523. Income, 
10,000/. The present cathedral was begun by Walkin, 34th 
bishop, in 1073, and was dedicated once to St. S within, one 
of its bishops. The see is of great antiquity, being founded 
by Kenegilsus, first Christian king of the West Saxons. 

Ely. — Cambridge, Bedford, Huntingdon, part of Suffolk. 
Benefices, 529. Income, 5,500/. Made a bishopric by Henry L, 
1107. Cathedral begun in the reign of William Rufus. 

Lincoln. — Lincoln and Nottingham. Benefices, 796. The 
largest diocese in the kingdom. The present cathedral was 
completed by Hugh of Burgundy, 25th bishop, and dedicated 
to the Virgin Mary and All the Saints. 

Bath and Wells. — Part of Somerset. Benefices, 462. 
Income, 5,000/. The bishopric of Wells (so called from St. 
Andrew's Well, which flows through part of .the town), was 
erected oj Edward the Elder, in 905. John de Villula, the 
16th bishop, having purchased Bath of Henry L, transferred 
his seat to that town ; hence disputes arose afterwards as to 
which place should elect the bishop, which were settled in 
1136 by the union of the two places; giving Bath the prece- 
dency. 

Salisbury. — Dorset, part of Wilts and Berks. Benefices, 
471. Income, 5,000/. Bishopric founded at Sherborn in 705, 
and removed to Old Sarum in 1056. The first Salisbury 
cathedral was built by the nephew of the Conqueror, on the 
earthworks of Old Sarum, where the outlines of the founda- 



ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 141 

tion are still visible. But in that high and bleak situation, 
i when the wind did blow, they could not hear the priest say 
masse,' — as old Aubrey tells us, the Wiltshire chronicler of the 
seventeenth century — so the present cathedral was built in 
1220, in the sheltered valley of the Avon ; Bishop Poore and 
William Longspee, son of Henry II. and Fair Eosamond, laying 
the first stone. Tradition says that the church was built upon 
wool- packs ; probably because the tolls paid for the wool in the 
market, which was the chief source of the wealth of the 
county at that time, helped to defray the expense. Edward 
III. added the spire, 406 feet high. After the transfer of the 
cathedral, the whole population seem to have followed down 
into the valley ; so that in the reign of Henry VIII. , not a 
single inhabitant was left in Old Sarum, which, nevertheless, 
until lately, has returned two members to parliament to repre- 
sent the deserted lump of earth. 

Exeter. — Devon, Cornwall, and the Scilly Isles. Benefices, 
694. Income, 5,000/. The bishopric originally consisted of 
two sees, the church of Devonshire being at Crediton, and 
that of Cornwall at Bodmin. The see was united and 
removed to Exeter in 1032, and Edward the Confessor gave 
for the cathedral a monastery founded by Athelstan. 

Chichester. — The county of Sussex. Benefices, 311. In- 
come, 4,200Z. Bishopric founded in the Isle of Selsey, 681 ; 
removed in 1071 to Chichester, or Cissan-ceaster (castle 
or city of Cissa, an Anglo-Saxon chief) ; cathedral built, 
1115. 

Eochester.— Hertford, part of Essex and part of Kent. 
Benefices, 564. Income, 5,000Z. The most ancient bishopric 
in England next to Canterbury, and founded by St. Augustin. 
The cathedral church first erected by Ethelbert, King of 
Kent. 

Oxford. — Oxford, Bucks, Berks. Benefices, 609. Income, 
5,000Z. Formerly part of the diocese of Lincoln, but made 
into a bishopric by Henry VIII., who endowed it from the 
dissolved monasteries of Abingdon and Osney. The cathedral 



142 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

was originally dedicated to St. Frideswide, and named Christ 
Church when the see was transferred. 

Gloucester and Bristol. — Gloucester, part of Wilts, and 
part of Somerset, Benefices, 443. Income, 5,000/. Formerly 
part of the diocese of Worcester, and erected into a bishop's 
see by Henry VIII. 

Worcester. — Worcestershire and Warwickshire. Benefices, 
417. Income, 5,000/. Founded by Ethelred, King of the 
Mercians, in 679. Originally part of the see of Lichfield. 

Hereford. — Hereford, part of Shropshire and Radnor. 
Benefices, 358. Income, 4,200/. The cathedral founded by 
Milfride, a nobleman in the time of King Ethelbert. 

Peterborough. — Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and 
Eutland. Benefices, 536. Income, 4,500/. Made into a 
bishop's see by Henry VIII. , who converted its monastery into 
a cathedral. Received its name from an ancient abbey dedi- 
cated to St. Peter, and built by one of the kings of Mercia. 

Lichfield. — Derbyshire, Staffordshire, part of Shropshire. 
Benefices, 625. Income, 4,500/. Formerly the see of Lich- 
field and Coventry. Founded in 656, and became so wealthy 
that in the time of Pope Adrian it was made an Archbishopric. 
In 1074 the see was removed to Chester, in 1102 to Coventry, 
and then back again to Lichfield. Dr. Samuel Butler in 1840 
was the first bishop of Lichfield only. The cathedral was 
begun by Roger de Clinton, 37th bishop, in 1148 ; the chapel 
of St. Mary was added by Walter de Langton, bishop in 1296, 
and the structure was completed by Bishop Heyworth, in 
1420. 

Norwich.— Norfolk and part of Suffolk. Benefices, 910. 
Income, 4,500/. At one time two distinct bishoprics, Elmham 
in Norfolk, and Dunwich in Suffolk, because Bifus, the third 
bishop, was unable from his extreme age to bear the burden 
of the whole see, which was founded in 630 by Felix, a Bur- 
gundian, who converted the East Angles. The see was after- 
wards re-united and removed to Norwich in 1088, when the 
cathedral was begun by Bishop Herbert Losinga, and com- 
pleted by Bishop Middleton, 30th prelate, in 1278. 



ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 143 

St. David's. — Brecon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Pembroke, 
part of Glamorgan, part of Eadnor. Benefices, 411. Income, 
4,500Z. Once the metropolitan see of Wales, and one of the 
three archbishoprics that were originally planted in Britain. 
Called St. David's, after its first archbishop, whose memory is 
honoured by the Welsh custom of wearing a leek in the hat 
on the 1st of March, the day on which St. David gained a 
great victory over the Saxons, and ordered his soldiers to dis- 
tinguish tli em selves by fixing a leek in their caps before the 
battle. In the reign of Henry I. the bishops of St. David 
were compelled to submit to the see of Canterbury. 

Llandaff. — Monmouth, and part of Glamorgan. Benefices, 
230. Income, 4,200/. A very ancient bishopric, taking its 
name from the situation of its church, close to the river Taff y 
llan, in Welsh, signifying church. 

St. Asaph. — Part of Carnarvon and Denbigh, Flint, part 
of Merioneth, Montgomery and Shropshire. Benefices, 173. 
Income, 4,200Z. Founded in 560 by Kentijern, bishop of 
Glasgow, and called St. Asaph after his successor. 

Bangor. — Anglesea, parts of Carnarvon, Denbigh, Merio- 
neth, and Montgomery. Benefices, 134. Income, 4,200/. 
An ancient see. The church is dedicated to St. Daniel, one 
of its bishops in 516. 

Province of York. 

York. — Part of Yorkshire. Benefices, 534. For a long 
time York and Durham were the only sees in the north of 
England, until Henry I. created a bishopric at Carlisle, and 
Henry VIII. one at Chester. King Edwin of Northumbria, 
about the year 630, built the first Christian church here, 
on the site, it is supposed, of a Eoman temple. Many times 
the church has been destroyed by fire, and rebuilt at different 
periods, until its completion in the fourteenth century; and 
in 1829 the majestic fabric was set on fire by Jonathan 
Martin, a lunatic, and again it was partially destroyed by an 
accidental fire in 1840. 



144 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Durham. — Durham, Northumberland, part of Cumberland. 
Benefices, 245. Income, 8,000/. The bishopric was first 
fixed in Heligoland in 635, but forced from there by the 
Danes, and finally removed to Durham. It is considered the 
richest see in England. 

Carlisle. — Part of Cumberland and part of Westmoreland. 
Benefices, 264. Income, 4,500Z. Founded by Henry I. in 
1133 ; cathedral erected in the time of William Eufus. 

Ripon. — Part of Yorkshire. Benefices, 430. Income, 
4,500/. The diocese was formed in 1836, from those of York 
and Chester. 

Manchester. — Part of Lancashire. Benefices. 358. In- 
come, 4,200Z. Diocese created in 1849 ; Dr. Prince Lee being 
the first bishop. 

Chester. — Cheshire, parts of Lancashire, Cumberland, and 
Westmoreland. Benefices, 363. Income, 4,500Z. Formerly 
part of the diocese of Lichfield ; erected into a see by Henry 
VII., who gave it for a cathedral the abbey of St. Werburgh. 

Sodor and Man. — Isle of Man. Benefices, 31. Income, 
2,000Z. Erected by Pope Gregory IV. The Southern He- 
brides used to be included in the diocese ; but, when the 
Isle of Man became subject to England, they were separated 
from it, and had a bishop of their own. The bishopric has 
still, however, retained its name of Sodor, which is believed to 
be an abbreviation of ' Soderoys,' the old name of the Southern 
Hebrides. The bishop is nominated by the Duke of Athol, 
and is consequently not a lord of parliament, since he does not 
hold his see from the sovereign. 

CHURCH OF IRELAND. 

The Protestant Church of Ireland is called, in connection 
with England, the United Church of England and Ireland. It 
maintains two archbishoprics, viz. Dublin and Armagh ; and 
ten bishoprics, viz. Meath, Killaloe, Cashel, Cork, Down, 
Deny, Limerick, Kilmore, Ossory, Tuam. Clergy, about 
2,200. 



ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRES. 145 

The Koman Catholic Church of Ireland consists of four 
archbishoprics and twenty-five bishoprics. 

CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 

In 1689, the episcopal form of government was abolished 
in Scotland ; and, in conformity with the principles of John 
Knox, Presbyterianism was established, which vested all 
authority in councils of elders and ministers, called presbyters. 
These ministers are all of equal rank, and there are four 
species of courts or councils by which the affairs of the kirk 
or church are managed, viz. the General Assembly, the Synod, 
the Presbytery, and the Kirk Session. The minister of each " 
parish, with one or two elders or leading men, form the kirk 
session, which manages the affairs of that parish ; several kirk 
sessions constitute a presbytery ; several presbyteries a synod ; 
and the general assembly is a gathering of the representa- 
tives of the several synods, which meets in Edinburgh once a 
year. There are sixteen synods and eighty -four presbyteries. 

In 1843, nearly half the National Kirk decided on the prin- 
ciple that parishioners ought to be allowed a voice in the 
choice of ministers ; and these seceders called themselves the 
Free Kirk of Scotland. 

Episcopacy is still maintained in Scotland under a reduced 
form, although the Scotch Episcopal Church has held no po- 
sition in the State since the Eevolution in 1688. The Scotch 
bishoprics are seven : viz. Edinburgh, Brechin, Moray and 
Eoss, Argyle, Aberdeen, Glasgow, St. Andrews. The clergy 
number about 161. The bishops are appointed by the crown, 
and one of them is elected by the other six to act as presiding 
bishop or Primus, 

DISSENTING CONGEEGATIONS. 

The first dissenting place of worship in England was a Pres- 
byterian chapel opened at Wandsworth, Nov. 20, 1572. The 
following table will show the proportion which dissenting 
places of worship bore ten years ago to those of the Estab- 
lished Church, in England and Wales : — 

L 



146 



THE BEITISE ISLES. 



PLACES OF WORSHIP 




PLACES OF WORSHIP. 




Church, of England . 


14,077 


Swedenborgians . . . 


50 


Boman Catholics 


570 


Moravians .... 


32 


"Wesleyan Methodists 


6,579 


Irvingites (Catholic and 




Independents . 


3,244 


Apostolic Church) 


32 


Baptists .... 


2,789 


Greek Church 


3 


Society of Friends . 


371 


Countess of Huntingdon's 




Unitarians 


229 


Connection 


109 


Latter-day Saints (Mor- 




Welsh Calvinistic Methodists 828 


nionites) 


222 


Various small bodies, some 




Scotch Presbyterians 


160 


without names 


546 


Plymouth Brethren 


132? 


Jews 


53 



It is estimated that there is about one Christian minister to 
every 900 inhabitants in the British Isles. 



EDUCATIONAL CENTRES. 



UNIVERSITIES. 



Oxford. 



There are fonr Universities in England : Oxford, Cambridge, 
London, and Durham. It is not known when Oxford 
University was first founded. As early as the time 
of Edward the Confessor it appears to have been a place of 
study, and its schools were either attached to the convents and 
monasteries, or the scholars were lodged at the inns or in hired 
houses. When many of these scholars were congregated in 
one house, it was called a hall or hostel, and was presided 
over by a governor. To save students the expense of this 
lodging out, and for the convenience of study, persons have 
from time to time erected and endowed colleges (from colligo, 
to bring together), or charitable institutions, where scholars 
are lodged and educated according to the statutes of the 
founder ; such colleges having received by charter of the king 
the right to be corporate bodies, subject to their own jurisdic- 
tion only. William, archdeacon of Durham, was the first who 
founded a college at Oxford, now called University College, 
a.d. 1232; but no regular plan of college education can be 
traced before the time of Walter de Merton, bishop of Roches- 
ter, who founded Merton College in 1264. Oxford University 
consists of nineteen colleges, viz. University, Balliol, Merton, 



EDUCATIONAL CENTRES. 147 

Exeter, Oriel, Queen's, New College, Lincoln, All Souls', 
Magdalen, Brazenose, Corpus Christi, Christ Church, Trinity, 
St. John's, Jesus, Wadham, Pembroke, Worcester ; and of six 
halls, which differ from colleges in not being corporate bodies, 
viz. St. Edmund's, St. Mary's, New Inn Hall, St. Mary Mag- 
dalene, St. Alban, and Charsley. By diploma of James L, the 
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge send two representatives 
to Parliament. 

Cambridge Is supposed to have been a seat of learning from 
the seventh century, when Bede says that Sigebert, 
king of the East Angles, instituted a school in imita- 
tion of those in France. The university is said to have had 
its origin in a number of learned monks being appointed by 
the abbot of Croyland to deliver lectures on science and philo- 
sophy at the town of Cambridge, near his residence, in 1109; 
and the students who nocked to hear them formed themselves 
into an academy, after the model of the university at Orleans. 
The first charter granted to Cambridge as a university was by 
Henry III. ; and the first endowed college was Peter House 
College, founded by the bishop of Ely, in 1257. Cambridge 
University has seventeen colleges, viz. St. Peter's, Clare, Pem- 
broke, Gonville and Caius, Trinity Hall, Corpus Christi, 
King's, Christ's, Queens', St. Catherine's, Jesus, St. John's, 
Magdalene, Trinity, Emmanuel, Sidney- Sussex, Downing. 

London University was chartered in 1836. It differs from 
other universities by being wholly of a secular r a 

. . . J , ., London. 

character. It is an examining, and not educational 
institution, and confers degrees in arts, laws, and medicine. 

Durham University was opened for students in 1833, and 
owes its existence to the efforts of Dr. Thorp, Arch- _, , 

Durham. 

deacon of Durham. 

Scotland has 5 Universities : Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aber- 
deen, Old Aberdeen, and St. Andrews. 

Edinburgh University was founded by James VI., scotch rjni- 
affcerwards James I. of England, in 1582. versities. 

Glasgow University had its origin about 1458, when land 
was bequeathed by a member of the House of Hamilton 

l2' 



148 THE BEITISH ISLES. 

for its erection. James VI. granted it new estates, and a 
charter. 

The University of Old Aberdeen, or King's College, was 
founded by James IV. in 1494. Marischal College and Uni- 
versity, in Aberdeen, was founded by George Keith, Earl 
Marischal in 1593. 

St. Andrew's University is the oldest in Scotland, and was 
founded by Henry Wardlaw, bishop of St. Andrews, in 
1411. 

Dublin University was founded by Queen Elizabeth, 1591, 
Irish Uni- and was first called Trinity College ; it is exclusively 
versities. p rotestant# j n ^q Q uee n Victoria founded the 
* Queen's University in Ireland,' with power to grant degrees 
to students who have completed their course in any one of the 
Queen's Colleges of Belfast, Galway, or Cork ; which colleges 
are open equally to Roman Catholics and Protestants. May- 
nooth College, in Kildare, was founded in 1795, by Act of the 
Irish Parliament, for the education of candidates for orders in 
the Roman Catholic Church. 

COLLEGES AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

Unlike our two principal Universities, the greater part of our 
large public schools have had a Protestant origin, and perhaps 
"Winchester and Eton are the only colleges of note in England 
that have been Roman Catholic at their formation. Imme- 
diately after the Reformation, education seems to have received 
a great impetus, and a great many of our grammar-schools 
were founded by Edward VI., out of the revenues of the old 
religious houses. It is observable, that whereas before that 
period, learning owed its chief patronage to kings and ecclesi- 
astics ; under the influence of Protestantism laymen of all 
degrees devoted their means to its promotion. Thus, Rugby 
School owes its foundation to a London grocer ; Dulwich 
College to a comedian ; Harrow School to a wealthy yeoman ; 
and conspicuous amongst these lay benefactors is Sir Thomas 
Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange and of Gresham 



EDUCATIONAL CENTRES. 



149 



College. The following are the principal colleges and public 
schools in the order in which they were founded : — 



Winchester College, founded by "William of Wykeham 
Bishop of Winchester 

Eton College, founded by Henry VI. 

Westminster School, founded by Queen Elizabeth 

Highgate Grammar School, founded by Chief- Justice 
Cholmley . 

Rugby Grammar School, founded by Laurence Sheriff 

Gresham College, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham 

Harrow School, founded by John Lyons 

Dulwich College, founded by Edward Alleyne 

Sion College ... - * 

Grey Coat School, Westminster,, founded by Queen Anne 

Naval College, Portsmouth 

Cheshunt College 

Maynooth College, Ireland, founded by Act of Parlia- 
ment, for the education of students designed for the 
Roman Catholic priesthood 

Military College, Sandhurst 

Highbury College 

University College, London 

Icing's College, London 

Queen's College, Birmingham 



A.D. 



1387 
1440 
1560 

1564 
1567 
1581 
1585 
1619 
1630 
1698 
1722 
1792 



1795 
1799 
1826 
1827 
1829 
1858 



SCHOOLS FOR THE PEOPLE. 

Charity Schools were first instituted in James II.'s reign, 
with a view chiefly to prevent the children of the poor from 
being brought up in Roman Catholic schools ; and the first 
opened was at St. Margaret's, Westminster, 1688. By 1741 
nearly 2,000 parochial charity-schools had been set up in Eng- 
land and Ireland, principally through the ' Society for the 
Promotion of Christian Knowledge.' Sunday Schools were 
originated by Mr. Eobert Raikes, of Gloucester, 1784, in con- 
junction with the Rev. Mr. Stock, curate. National Schools 
owed their origin to Dr. Andrew Bell, of St. Andrews, Scot- 
land ; Lancastrian Schools, on the monitorial system, to 
Joseph Lancaster, of the Society of Friends, who began to 
instruct on this plan, 1796, and through his efforts the British 



150 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

and Foreign School Society was established, 1808. Infant 
Schools were established first in Scotland by Eobert Owen, 
about 1818 ; and about the year 1839, a city missionary, 
Andrew Walker, who had been a Scotch gardener, began the 
experiment of Ragged Schools in London, in one of the worst 
districts near Westminster, commonly called ' Devil's Acre.' 
John Pounds, the Portsmouth cobbler, and Thomas Cranfield, 
of Southwark, had been the first to open schools of a similar 
character ; but these were private attempts, and probably the 
first regularly- organised Eagged school was the one instituted 
at Bristol under the active agency of Miss Carpenter. The 
passing of the Eeforrnatory Act, by which juvenile offenders, 
after being sent to prison, may be sent by magistrates to 
reformatories which have been certified by a Government 
Inspector, has given rise to a great number of Reformatories 
and Industrial Schools within the last few years, of which that 
of the Philanthropic Society at Eed Hill, in Surrey, is on the 
largest scale. 

MANUFACTUEING- CENTEES. 

The staple merchandise of primitive England consisted of 
wool, sheepskins, leather, lead, and tin. These articles were 
called staple, from the French word estape, or mart ; because, 
for the convenience of foreign buyers, and to insure the pay- 
ment of the duties, a staple or mart used to be appointed by 
the king, where all goods of one species were collected and 
weighed and fined, previous to selling or exportation. Thus 
each commodity had its own staple depot, and in time the term 
came to be transferred to the goods themselves, so that staple 
articles were those of which the commerce was established. Of 
these native productions, wool seems to have been the most 
important as an article of merchandise and source of wealth ; 
and indeed our word mutton points to the time when a sheep 
was the representative of money ; the word mutton being de- 
rived from the Latin mulcta or multa, a fine, in the same way, 
inversely, as pecuniar?/ is derived from pecus, cattle. British 



MANUFACTURING CENTEES. 151 

wool was considered the finest in the world, and in the four- 
teenth century the exports of wool were thirteen-fourteenths of 
the exports of the whole kingdom. The Woollen manufacture 
is the oldest in England; and in the second cen- wool manu- 
tury there is mention of a manufacture of woollen facture - 
cloth established at Winchester, for the exclusive use of the 
Eoman Emperors. The wool-combers themselves have a tra- 
dition that they are indebted for the art of combing wool to 
St. Blazius, a bishop of Sebastia in Armenia, who suffered 
martyrdom in the year 316 ; and consequently in some old 
towns where the trade flourishes, a septennial fete is held in 
honour of Bishop Blaize, in which the bishop walks in full 
canonicals side by side with Jason and the Golden Fleece, fol- 
lowed by dyers and wool-combers in woollen wigs, and bon- 
fires are lighted as appropriate to the name of the patron saint ; 
although there is no reason for believing that St. Blazius had 
any connection with the combing process, besides having his 
own flesh torn by iron combs at his martyrdom. 

Edward III., upon his marriage with the daughter of the 
Earl of Hainault, invited the Flemish weavers to settle in 
the country, and in 1527, John Kempe, a Fleming, intro- 
duced the art of weaving woollens into Yorkshire, ' which,' 
says King Edward, l may prove of great benefit to us and our 
subjects ; ' and afterwards, in the same reign, woollen factories 
were established at Bolton and Manchester. But so little did 
the English understand the process of dyeing, that for long 
afterwards their cloths were sent to Holland to be dipped, and 
were returned to be sold. The art of dyeing woollens and many 
other manufacturing processes were introduced at the latter 
end of Elizabeth's reign by Flemish refugees, who fled from 
the atrocities of the Duke of Alva and the Spaniards in the 
Netherlands, and found a refuge in the east counties ; and the 
value that was jealously attached to the art of woollen -dyeing 
is indicated by the fact that two dyers were flogged for teaching 
it in the north of England. 

The woollen manufacture is chiefly carried on in Yorkshire, 
Wilts, Gloucestershire, and Somersetshire in England, and 



152 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

in Aberdeen, Galashiels, Stirling, and Bannockburn in 
Scotland. 

Broadcloth is made principally at Leeds, Bradford, Hudders- 
field, and Halifax in Yorkshire ; Trowbridge and Bradford in 
Wilts ; Frome in Somersetshire ; and Stroud, which is the 
centre of the Gloucester woollen manufacture. The river Stroud, 
on which it stands, is peculiarly adapted for dyeing scarlet. 

Flannels. — Eochdale and Halifax, and Welshpool and Dol- 
gelly in Wales. 

Blankets. — Witney, Oxfordshire. 

Worsted used to be made at Worsted in Norfolk ; it is now 
made chiefly at Bradford. 

Carpets. — Kidderminster (Worcestershire), Axminster 
(Devon), Kilmarnock (Scotland). 

Mixed goods of worsted and silk; Norwich. 

Tartans. — Stirling and Bannockburn. Coarse woollens, 
Aberdeen in Galashiels. 

Besides our home produce of 175,000,000 lbs. of wool, we 
import more than 100,000,000 lbs. annually to supply the ma- 
nufacture, nearly one half of which comes from the Australian 
colonies. 

We are indebted to the Flemish for the art of weaving 
linen, and in 1253 some weavers from the Low 

Linen . 

manufac- Countries first manufactured linen cloths in England 
under the protection of Henry III. From that 
time linen shirts began to take the place of the woollen 
ones that had hitherto been worn. In 1368 a company of 
linen weavers established the manufacture in London; but 
the chief seat of the trade is now in Ireland, where it was 
introduced in the reign of James I. by some Scottish Presby- 
terians, who fled from persecution in their own country, and it 
is carried on extensively at Belfast, Dublin, Louth, Newry, 
and Drogheda. In Scotland, Dundee is the centre of the 
trade, and fine linens, such as damasks and shirtings, are made 
at Dunfermline. The little made in England is principally at 
Barnsley in Yorkshire. The supply of flax is chiefly from 
Eussia and the Baltic. 



MANUFACTURING CENTRES. 153 

There are some towns in England, especially those on the 
Lancashire and Cheshire coal-fields, which owe all _, „ 

. . Cotton 

their importance and almost their existence to the manufac- 
Cotton trade, which, since the application of steam 
power to machinery has rendered the ready means of obtain- 
ing coal in large quantities indispensable to the manufacture, 
has taken root and spread to an amazing extent in the coal 
districts of Manchester, Blackburn, Bolton, Preston, Wigan, 
Bury, Oldham, Chorley, Eochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne, and 
Stockport. Indeed, Manchester owes its preeminence as the 
first manufacturing town in England to the facilities which its 
natural position affords to the cotton trade ; standing as it 
does on the river Irwell, by which it communicates with the 
great seaport of Liverpool, and also upon the best coal strata 
in the kingdom. Four-fifths of the cotton goods made in 
England are produced within ten miles of tjie town. 

The history of Manchester affords a striking example of the 
transition from a barbarous to a scientific and industrial age ; 
and even the 2,000 years would not seem to be more than 
sufficient to transform this ancient station of the Druids, the 
place of groves and altar-stones, into the busy, crowded, 
smoky, cotton mart of the world. The name of Manchester 
tells its ancient history. The Druid priests called it Meyne, 
signifying an altar stone, to which the privilege of sanctuary 
was attached. Next, the Brigantes made it their stronghold, 
and called it Mancenion, a place of tents ; and the castle they 
built still gives its name to Castle-Field. Then came the 
Romans, who made it the station of their Cohors Prima 
Frisiorum, and changed Mancenion into Mancunium. Then 
under the Saxons it became the residence of a Thane, and was 
called Manceaster ; hence Manchester. 

It was chiefly for its woollen trade that Manchester was 
important during the middle ages, and the first mention of the 
cotton manufacture is found in Roberts' \ Treasure of Traffic,' 
published in 1641, in which it is said, ' The town of Man- 
chester buys cotton wool from London that comes from 
Cyprus and Smyrna, and works the same into fustians, ver- 



154 THE BEITISH ISLES. 

millians, and dimities.' Twenty years before, from the. same 
quarter, Smyrna, the first cotton seeds had been conveyed to 
the United States and planted as an experiment, and in 1770 
three bales of cotton were brought from New York, four from 
Virginia, and three barrels full from North Carolina. Mean- 
while James Hargreaves of Blackburn had invented in 1767 
the spinning jenny with eight spindles to supersede the slow 
process of spinning by hand ; for which discovery the Black- 
burn people drove him from the county, although it was only 
by making use of his discovery afterwards that the town pro- 
spered. Shortly afterwards Arkwright and Crompton made 
further inventions and improvements, and in 1771 the first 
cotton mill in England was erected in Matlock Dale by 
Messrs. Arkwright & Strutt; which mill is still worked. 
The oldest cotton mill in Manchester, that on Shude Hill, 
was also built by* Arkwright about 1780. In 1785 steam- 
power was first applied to cotton spinning at Sapplewick in 
Northamptonshire ; and the introduction of the power-loom 
into Manchester in 1807, and the enormous supply of raw 
cotton from the United States, made this town and the neigh- 
bouring districts the chief source of the supply of cotton 
fabrics throughout the world. The present stoppage of the 
supply of slave-grown cotton from the Southern States of 
America has partially closed our mills, and for the future 
prosperity of the trade we are again turning to those oldest 
sources of the cotton supply, India and Egypt, and also to our 
colonies of Queensland, Natal, and Jamaica. 

In Scotland, Glasgow and Paisley are the chief seats of the 
cotton trade ; in Ireland, the manufacture is inconsiderable, 
and chiefly carried on at Belfast. 

The Silk manufacture has existed in England since the 

fifteenth century, but at first it was only an insignifi- 

manufac- cant branch of industry, being confined chiefly to 

the making of ribbons and small silk articles by 

hand weaving. James I. endeavoured to promote the trade 

by attempting the cultivation of the silkworm in England, but 

the only result remaining from his experiment are the old 



MANUFACTURING CENTRES. 155 

mulberry trees planted by his order, and now found in the 
neighbourhood of Sion House and of some ancient mansions. 
The first effectual establishment of the manufacture was in 
1688 by the French Protestants, or Huguenots, who sought 
refuge in England from the persecution of Louis XIV., to the 
number of about 70,000, and settled themselves in Spitalfields 
and several of the large towns, where they introduced and 
carried on the broad silk manufacture ; — affording another of the 
many illustrations of the fact that England's generous protection 
of the oppressed has tended to her own advancement. The first 
silk mill in England was Lombe's Mill, built in 1720 on the 
Derwent at Derby ; and early in the last century ribbon 
weaving was introduced into Coventry by Mr. Bird, aided 
probably by the French emigrants ; Coventry before that time 
having derived its wealth from the woollen and camlet trade. 
Spitalfields, Coventry, Manchester, and Macclesfield are at 
present the chief silk -weaving districts ; while the principal 
spinning mills are in Derby and the neighbourhood. It is 
not an important manufacture either in Scotland or Ireland. 
Our supply of raw silk is from India, China, Italy, and France. 

The Iron manufacture has naturally planted itself in the 
iron districts, and on the great coal-fields of the 
kingdom, viz. in South Wales, South Staffordshire, 
Shropshire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The remains of 
ancient furnaces in many of these districts show that the 
smelting of iron was carried on in the time of the Romans. 
Of the enormous quantity of iron produced, more than one- 
third is smelted in Merthyr Tydvil, South Wales, and the 
surrounding districts ; another third in South Staffordshire ; 
and the rest chiefly in Yorkshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire. 
The Hardware manufacture, that of iron goods generally, 
belongs especially to Birmingham and Sheffield and some of 
the neighbouring towns. 

The town of Birmingham, or Bromwycham, or Brumwyche- 
ham — for the name is said to have the advantage of being 
spelled in 150 different ways — lying nearly in the centre of 
England in the county of Warwickshire, was a town in the time 



156 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

of Alfred, and being situated near the iron of the Staffordshire 
mines as well as the coal of the forest of Arden, was early 
known for its iron manufacture. Its central situation and 
the consequent difficulty of transit were unfavourable to its 
progress for many centuries ; but at the Restoration of 
Charles II., 1649, the Birmingham artisans succeeded in imi- 
tating the glittering metal ornaments of France, for which the 
king had imbibed a taste during his exile, and so great was the 
demand, that the love of his Sacred Majesty for spangles made 
the fortune of the town until the end of the last century. The 
reputation of Birmingham continued to rest chiefly upon ' its 
excellent and ingenious hardware manufactures, particularly 
snuff and tobacco-boxes, buttons and buckles,' and so it earned 
the name that Burke gave it, of i the great toy-shop of the 
world.' But its toy-shop reputation has now been eclipsed 
by its vast iron-foundries, its production of machinery and 
implements of labour and manufacture and of fire-arms, and 
the extent of its glass-works. At Soho, in the neighbourhood, 
was the greatest steam-engine manufactory in the world, con- 
ducted by a firm of which James Watt was once a partner. 
Birmingham is now reckoned the second manufacturing town 
in England ; and from building steam-engines to making pins, 
almost every kind of work in metal may be found done there 
that human fingers, guided by the human brain, can accom- 
plish. The town has of late years gained immensely by being 
made, in a manner, the centre of the canal and railway- system 
of England. 

Sheffield, a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, shares 
with Birmingham the advantage of being a chief seat of the 
hardware trade, principally in the cutlery department, and the 
hardware manufacture extends to the towns of Wolverhamp- 
ton, Walsall, Dudley, and Bilstow. In Scotland, iron is 
manufactured principally in Lanarkshire ; also in Renfrew- 
shire, Stirlingshire, and Ayrshire. 

The coal-fields of Staffordshire, which supply fuel for the 
iron trade about Birmingham on the south, supply it 
also to the region of the Potteries in the north of 



MANUFACTURINGS CENTRES. 157 

Staffordshire. Before the time of Josiah Wedgwood in 1762 
all our finer porcelains came from France ; but since the in- 
vention of the Wedgwood ware, the manufacture has become 
an important one in England. Besides the Potteries of North 
Staffordshire, of which the town of Burslem is the centre, 
there are large china-works at Worcester and Derby for the 
finer sorts of porcelain. Devonshire and [ Cornwall supply 
the fine clay which, mingled with flint, is used for the superior 
china. 

About the first mention of the use of glass in England was, 
that foreign artists were brought over to glaze the 
church windows at Weremouth in Durham in 674 : 
and nearly a thousand years after this we are told that the 
glass casements in noble residences were so precious that they 
were taken out whenever the family were absent to preserve 
them from injury ; and in the royal palaces in Scotland, glass 
was only used in the upper rooms, the lower rooms being 
merely supplied with shutters. The earliest manufacture of 
flint glass in England was begun in 1557, and in 1760 crown 
glass was first made for looking-glasses and coach-windows, at 
Lambeth. About 1773 the first great glass company of 
' British Cast Plate- Glass Manufacturers,' erected works at 
Eavenhead, near Liverpool. The chief seats of the trade now 
are Newcastle, Stourbridge, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, 
and London. 

Among the various other trades, ship-building is principally 
carried on at London, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and 
Sunderland ; and in a less degree at most of the other ports. 
Distilleries are chiefly in Ireland and Scotland. The boot and 
shoe manufacture belongs chiefly to Northampton and Stafford ; 
tanning to Bermondsey in South wark ; gloves to Worcester; 
furs to London. Stocking -weaving belongs to Leicester, 
Loughborough, Hinckley, and Nottingham; stocking-frames 
were invented by an Englishman, William Lee, in 1589. 
Clocks and watches are chiefly made at Coventry, London, and 
Liverpool. Paper is principally manufactured in the counties 
near London, the great centre of the book trade. 



158 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



TEADING POETS OF ENGLAND. 

The British shipping trade far exceeds that of any other 
country, and the bare numerals in which its amount is 
expressed become full of interest when connected with all the 
life and bustle of our trading ports, and with all the wonderful 
appliances of art and industrial skill by which it is carried on. 
Taking one year as a sample, in 1861, 29,357 British ships, 
and 26,697 foreign ones, cleared outwards from our ports, 
while 29,907 British and 25,356 foreign vessels entered 
inwards, freighted with exports of the declared value of 
125,115,133/., and with imports of the computed value of 
217,315,881/. Besides which, in the coasting trade between 
our own ports and those of Scotland, Ireland, and the ad- 
jacent islands, 153,591 vessels were inward, and 157,389 
were outward bound. The principal trading ports in England 
are London, Liverpool, Bristol, Newcastle, Stockton, Hull, 
Plymouth, Yarmouth, Southampton, Gloucester, Sunderland, 
and Whitehaven. 

About a quarter of the whole British shipping trade is 
Port of conducted through the port of London, and ships 
London. f r0 m every region of the globe find their way into its 
harbours. Until the end of the last century, there were no 
wet-docks where vessels could be received into port and kept 
afloat while loading and unloading, excepting one which had 
been made for the use of the Greenland whalers, and furnished 
with apparatus for boiling the bladder ; consequently the 
foreign ships had to empty their cargoes into boats or lighters 
in the river. During the American War, when numbers of 
West India vessels crowded in at the same time under convoy, 
this want of accommodation was exceedingly inconvenient, and 
the West India Docks at Blackwall and Limehouse were 
accordingly projected, and were constructed in 1800. These 
docks are capable of accommodating 500 sail of large merchant 
vessels. In 1805, the London Docks at Wapping were opened. 
Below the West India Docks at Blackwall were constructed 
the East India Docks, at first reserved for the use of the East 



TEADING PORTS. 159 

India Company, but now open to vessels from all parts. Also 
on the north side, between the London Docks and the Tower, 
are the St. Katherine's Docks, opened in 1828, to supply the 
want of space in the London Docks. On the south side of the 
Thames are the Commercial Docks, the Grand Surrey Canal 
Docks, and the East County Docks. 

Next to London, Liverpool, at the mouth of the Mersey in 
Lancashire, is the most important commercial port in Port of 
the world. In early times, Liverpool was only a small Liverpool, 
fishing-place ; deriving its name either from an unknown bird, 
called a lever or liver, that frequented a marshy pool once lying 
at the lower part of the town, and which is supposed to be 
represented by the species of ibis forming part of the seal of 
the corporation ; or from the Welsh Ller-pwll, i place of the 
pool.' Henry II. first gave an importance to the town by 
making it the port of embarkation for his troops for the 
conquest of Ireland, and by granting the citizens their first 
charter. In 1708, the first wet-dock constructed in England 
for trading purposes was made at Liverpool, chiefly for the 
accommodation of African and West Indian vessels. So late 
as 1674, above half the African slave-trade was carried on by 
Liverpool merchants ; but since its abolition, the commerce of 
the town has much increased in other directions. Liverpool 
now owes its great importance to the enormous cotton trade of 
Lancashire ; to the importing of the raw material from America 
and India, and to the exporting of the manufactured goods. 
Its exports of British produce and manufactures are double 
those of London, and nearly half the exports of the whole 
kingdom. It is the ^packet station to Canada and the United 
States. The port extends three miles across the shore and one 
mile inland, and the quays are nine miles in length. 

The oldest name of Bristol was Caer-Oden, or City of the 
Gap, or chasm through which the Avon flows into 
the sea. The name of Bristol is either derived from 
the Saxon Brighstowe^ pleasant place, or from brieg, bridge, 
and stowe, place. Before the Conquest, Bristol was used as a 
convenient port for exporting slaves, chiefly to Ireland ; and at 



160 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

the date of the Domesday Book, 1050, it was a walled town 
and royal borough. Between the thirteenth and sixteenth 
centuries, its manufactories almost supplied England with 
cloth, glass, and soap, and it became a wool-staple in the time 
of Edward III. The Bristol merchants are memorable for the 
spirited aid they afforded Sebastian Cabot in his exploring 
expedition to America, and Newfoundland was colonised from 
Bristol in 1609. The docks were opened in 1809, when the 
old channel of the Avon was transformed into one immense 
floating harbour, three miles long. The tide rises so high in 
the Avon that ships of all but the largest size can come up to 
the town. Bristol trades largely with Ireland. 

Hull, or Kingston-upon-Hull, in the East Eiding of York- 
shire, is the fourth commercial port of England. 
The town stands on the river Hull, twenty miles 
from the mouth of the river Humber. In the twelfth century 
it was called Wyke-upon-Hull, and was an important port for 
the export of wools and leather, and for the import of wines. 
In 1296, Edward I. bought the place, built a harbour, made it 
a free borough, and gave it the royal name of Kyngeston- 
super-Hull. In the last century the Greenland fishery was 
revived by the enterprise of the Hull merchants, but now the 
traffic has almost ceased at this port, although Hull supplies 
nearly all the ships belonging to the northern fishery. The 
chief commerce of the port is with the north of Europe and 
the ports of the Baltic. Hull is now an important steam- 
packet station. 

Stockton-upon-Tees, in Durham, was in early times the 
residence of the bishops of Durham. Its foreign 
exports are chiefly lead ; its coasting exports chiefly 
coal. 

Newcastle-upon-Tyne is the fifth commercial city of Eng- 
land, and the first coal-port in the world. For 500 
years the chief trade of the place has been the ship- 
ment of coal from the pits in the neighbourhood, of which 
there are no less than fifty, occupying a coal-field estimated at 
forty-four miles long and twenty-one broad, and yielding 



TKADINa POETS. 161 

annually above three million tons. The riyer Tyne forms the 
haven, and is lined with extensive quays and warehouses, and 
the coal is brought down the river in broad vessels called 
keels. The trade of Newcastle is chiefly with the English 
ports, and with the countries around the Baltic. 

Plymouth, in Devonshire, at the mouth of the river Plym, 
was originally a small fishing-place. The Saxons 
called it Tameorworth ;- after the Conquest it was 
called Sutton (South-Town), and Henry YI. gave it its 
present name, and made it a corporate town. The commerce 
of the port is mostly with the West Indies, the Baltic, and the 
Mediterranean, besides a coasting trade and a large fishery. 
The glory of Plymouth is the stupendous Breakwater, begun 
in 1812, and finished in 1841, formed of hugh loose granite 
blocks laid upon one another, extending to nearly a mile 
(1,700 yards) across the middle of the Sound, and which 
effectually break the swell of the Atlantic. 

Sunderland, in Durham, on the river Wear, is one of the 
chief ports for the shipment of coal, and began to 

n -i t i -i /. tit i i-i Sunderland. 

nourish as a town towards the end of Elizabeth s 
reign. Over the Wear at Sunderland is an enormous cast- 
iron bridge, 237 feet in span. 

Whitehaven, in Cumberland, was a small fishing village, 
containing six houses in the time of Elizabeth. It is wh^. 
now a considerable town, with extensive ship-build- haven. 
ing yards and rope-walks. The exports are chiefly coals to 
Ireland. 

Yarmouth, in Norfolk, on the river Yare, is the chief port 
for the eastern counties, Norfolk, Suffolk, and part . 

x Yarmoutn. 

of Essex. It used to be a royal demesne, and was 
fortified in the reign of Henry III. with a wall having 10 
gates and 16 towers. The chief business of the place is the 
herring-fishery, which is the first in England. 

Southampton, in Hampshire, was of old an important port 
for the wool and tin trade. It is called in the Saxon South . 
Chronicle Suth-Hamtun, and the foundation of the ampton. 
town is ascribed to the South Saxons. It is the largest packet- 

M 



162 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

port in the kingdom, and here the mails are made up and 
despatched to China, the Indies, and the Mediterranean. 

Gloucester, on the Severn, is supposed to have been a 
British town, called Caer-gloew. By the Saxons the 

Gloucester 

name was changed to Glean-ceaster, hence Glou- 
cester. The port has water communication with most parts of 
England. 

In 1861, 19,817 sailing-vessels were registered in the 
various ports of England and Wales, and 1,617 steamers. 

TRADING PORTS OF SCOTLAND. 

The chief trading-ports of Scotland are Glasgow, Leith, 
Greenock, Dundee, Aberdeen, and Montrose. 

Glasgow, on the river Clyde, in Lanarkshire, is the largest 
city in Scotland, and the third largest in Britain. In 

Glasgow. . J . . ' °. ... 

its origin Glasgow was little more than a religious 
establishment, supposed to have been founded by St. Mungo 
in 560. It was made a borough in 1180, and its first com- 
merce was in salmon, in the fifteenth century. The commercial 
importance of the place dates from the union of the two king- 
doms in 1707, when its rude manufactures greatly improved, 
and trade was opened with the British colonies of America. 
In 1718 a Glasgow vessel first crossed the Atlantic, and it is 
attributed to the tobacco trade alone, that after this time the 
town began to assume a creditable appearance ; stone man- 
sions took the place of thatched wooden houses, carriages 
rolled along the streets, and assembly-rooms and theatres 
began to appear. The admirable position of Glasgow as a sea- 
port, and as lying near the rich coal and iron beds of Lanark- 
shire, together with the use of steam-power, and growth of the 
cotton trade, have now made the city the great commercial 
centre of Scotland, and ships and steam-engines, iron, coal, 
and cotton are the chief elements of her wealth. The first 
steam-boat used in Europe was one tried on the Clyde, in 
1789. The trade of Glasgow is chiefly with England, but, 
nevertheless, the ships of the Clyde find their way to all parts 
of the world. 



TRADING PORTS, 163 

Dundee, in Forfarshire, on the Firth of Tay, is the centre of 
the linen trade in Scotland. It is a place of great antiquity, 
and used to be the residence of the Scottish kings. In the 
last century its chief export trade was shoes ; now it is mostly 
sheetings, canvas, and other linen goods of a coarse descrip- 
tion. Leith is the port of Edinburgh. Greenock, on the 
Clyde, inEenfrewshire, 22 miles from Glasgow, is a large sea- 
port, and is memorable as the birthplace of James Watt, 1736. 
Aberdeen, on the Dee, ships principally granite to London. It 
has large salmon fisheries. Montrose is a port in Forfarshire, 
on the riv^er Esk. 

The principal commerce of all the Scotch ports is with 
England, to which are sent cattle, sheep, salmon, coarse linen, 
and fine cotton goods, in exchange for woollen goods, hard- 
ware and tea, &c. To Ireland, coal, fish, and iron are sent in 
exchange for cattle and oats. Linens and cottons are exported 
to America and the West Indies. The merchant vessels 
registered in the Scotch ports in 1861 were 3,080 sailers, and 
330 steamers. 

TRADING PORTS OF IKELAND. 

The chief ports of Ireland are Belfast, Dublin, Cork, 
Waterford, Londonderry, Newry, Limerick, Drogheda, Wex- 
ford, Dundalk, Sligo, Galway. 

Hitherto the trade of Ireland has been chiefly with England, 
consisting of exports of linen and agricultural produce, and 
imports of British manufacture and colonial produce. The 
annual exportation of Irish butter alone into this country is 
valued at about 3,500,000Z. The yearly export of eggs is 
more than 52,000,000. The chief jDrovision ports are Cork, 
Dublin, Belfast, Newry, and Limerick, which trade princi- 
pally with Liverpool, Bristol, and Glasgow. The trade of 
Ireland with other countries is on the increase. 

Belfast, the capital of Antrim, in Ulster, on the river Lagan, 
is the first port and first manufacturing town in Ireland, and 
is especially the seat of the cotton and linen manufacture. 
The town first began to rise in importance in 1601, when it 

m 2 



164 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

was made a municipal and parliamentary borough ; and its 
vicinity to woods made it a convenient site for manufactures 
which required fuel. 

Kingstown is the port of Dublin, and is the second port in 
Ireland. Mail packet-station to Liverpool and Holyhead. 

Cork, in Munster, built on an island in the Lee, is the third 
port. Cork harbour is one of the finest in the world, and the 
best protected from the weather. The victualling of the navy 
belongs to this port. 

Limerick, on the Shannon, is, next to Cork, the chief sea- 
port of Munster, and the fourth largest town in Ireland. Trade : 
lace, glove, iron manufactures. 

Water ford, on the Suir, exports chiefly agricultural produce 
and cod-fish. Cod-fish imported from Newfoundland. 

G alio ay, in Connaught, is the port for the New- York 
steamers. Wexford, in Leinster, for cattle and dairy produce. 
Sligo, in Connaught ; trade, foreign and colonial. Drogheda, 
on the Boyne, and Dundalk, in Louth ; trade with Liverpool. 
Newry, in Down, trades chiefly in grain, butter, and other pro- 
visions. Londonderry, in Londonderry, has a large salmon 
trade. The Irish merchant-vessels registered in 1861 were 
2,123 sailers, and 175 steamers. 

NAVAL PORTS. 

England has seven chief naval ports and royal dock -yards, 
viz. : Portsmouth, Plymouth, including Devonport, on the Eng- 
lish Channel; Chatham, on the Medway ; Sheerness, Woolwich, 
and Deptford, on the Thames ; and Pembroke, on Milford 
Haven, in South Wales. 

Portsmouth, in Hampshire, is the head-quarters of the Eng- 
lish royal navy, and the most strongly fortified place in Eng- 
land. The harbour is formed by the western end of an inlet 
of the British Channel, divided into three parts by Portsea 
island on the west and Hayling island on the east. The 
natural excellence of the harbour was discovered by the 
Eomans, who founded a station at Porchester, on the north 
shore, and left evidence of their occupation of these parts by 
the ' port,' from portus, entrance, which forms part of the 



NATAL PORTS. 165 

names of Portsmouth, Portsea (Port's ' ey,' island of the port), 
Portsdown, and Gosport. There are still Soman remains at 
Porchester, or Portchester ; and it is said that the retiring of 
the sea rendering this port useless as a harbour, Portsmouth 
was built instead. In the reign of Henry VIII. it became the 
chief station of the royal navy, and the dock -yards, arsenal, 
and storehouses were established. 

Plymouth and Devonport, in Devonshire, is the next prin- 
cipal royal port. Here the fleet was stationed that was destined 
to oppose the Spanish Armada. 

Chatham, in Kent, possesses a fine arsenal. The naval and 
military establishments are at Brompton, near the town. 
Queen Elizabeth founded the dock -yard, before the Spanish 
invasion. 

Sheerness, in the Isle of Sheppy, in Kent. When the Dutch 
under De Suyter, in 1667, burnt our men of war at Chatham, 
Charles II. strengthened Sheerness and fortified it, in order to 
defend the passage up the Medway. 

Woolwich, in Kent, is the most ancient naval and military 
arsenal in the kingdom, having been an extensive establish- 
ment in 1501. The dock-yard was founded by Henry VIII. ; 
the present arsenal was formed about 1720, on the site of a 
rabbit-warren ; the royal military academy was erected in the 
arsenal in the reign of George II. 

Deptford, in Kent, about a mile west of Greenwich. The 
dockyard was established by Henry VIII. It was here that 
Queen Elizabeth dined on board the Pelican, the ship in 
which Sir Francis Drake had sailed round the globe. 

Pembroke. — The dockyard and arsenal are on the shore of 
Milford Haven, about 2 miles from Pembroke, and, until 1814, 
were situated at Milford. 

COAST AND KECREATION TOWNS. 

The increased facilities for travelling and the progress of 
enlightenment have caused a very visible change in our 
English ideas of pleasure-taking. In fashionable life, the days 
of Sanelagh and Vauxhall are gone by ; Bath and Tunbridge 
are no longer the lounges of the idle and dissipated, and the 



166 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

ideal of an English watering-place is no longer a combination 
of pump-room and spa, gambling and gaiety ; while in un- 
fashionable life the bull-baiting and cock-fighting, which were 
the chief amusements of the mass of the population during the 
greater part of the reign of George III., are almost extinct, and 
even the sports extolled by the Berkshire farmer are fast 
losing their fascination : 

There '11 be backsword play and climmin the powl, 
And a race for a peg and a cheese, 
And us thenks as his'n 's a dummel zowl 
As dwont care for zich spwoorts as theze. 

The number of those who do care for such sports as these 
is becoming rapidly more select, and among all classes plea- 
sure is coming more and more to signify healthy recreation. 
The periodical rush to the sides of the island by means of the 
excursion trains, shews to what an extent the smiling, spark- 
ling sea is the holiday goal of thousands of the toilers in 
cities ; * while the expansion of the old watering-places, and the 
growth of new ones, are evidence that there is a vast increase 
of the richer classes who seek health, rest, or enjoyment from 
the neighbourhood of the ocean. And thus it is that the 
towns in England, which may be specially classed as recrea- 
tive, are, with few exceptions, coast towns. 

To the ordinary seaside visitor all these watering-places 
have very much in common, that is to say, the sea, the bath- 
ing machines, the sandy or shingly beach, the pier or pro- 
menade, the donkeys, the bath-chairs, the German bands. 
But to the intelligent the coast towns are very differ en tly 
classified, and, while some are of merely modern growth, 
sprung up to meet the demand, others are rich in historical 
recollections, and, naturally more than the inland towns, tell 
of the first beginnings of communication with foreign nations. 
The most ancient historical interest belongs to the Cinque 
Ports ; or towns which being nearest the Continent, were made 

* During the year 1860 the number of passengers along the Brighton 
line was 9,545,000 ; that is, a million more than treble the population of 
London and its suburbs. 



CINQUE POETS. 167 

responsible by Edward the Confessor, in return for certain 
charters and privileges, for keeping the east coast of Kent in a 
state of suitable defence ; since that line of coast was the most 
open to invasion. These five ports were Dover, Sandwich, 
Komney, Hythe, and Hastings ; to which were afterwards 
added Eye and Winchelsea, although the group of towns still 
retained the name of Cinque Ports. 

Dovee, the Dubrae of the Eomans, is chief of these ports, 
and from the earliest times Dover Castle was considered, as 
an old chronicler says, l ye verie locke and keye of ye whole 
realme of England upon whiche both ye safetie and daunger 
of ye whole realme consisted.' The establishment of our 
naval force has superseded the original object of the Cinque 
Ports, but still Dover, as the principal pilot and packet 
station, and the nearest point of communication with the 
Continent, retains some of its old importance, besides its 
modern repute as a watering-place. 

Margate, on the Kent coast, in the Isle of Thanet, lies at the 
mouth of the Thames, facing the German Ocean, a little to the 
west of the North Foreland. It is 65 miles E. of London 
direct distance, and 101 miles by South Eastern Eailway. Its 
name is probably derived from Mere-gate, or opening into the 
sea. Until the end of the last century it was a poor fishing 
town, one dirty narrow lane, called King Street, being the 
chief street ; but as it was one of the nearest coast-towns to 
London, and suitable for bathing purposes, the place became 
of more importance as travelling became easier, and was much 
resorted to, we are told, ' by the esteemed gentry, ' until the 
means of easy access by railway to other watering -places on 
the south coast diminished its popularity and caused the town 
to decline. The stone pier at Margate is 900 feet long, and 
was built by Messrs. Eennie & Jessop, at a cost of 100,000Z. 
Margate is a member of the Cinque Port of Dover. 

Eamsgate, in the Isle of Thanet, facing the Straits of Dover, 
is 73 miles from London direct, and 97 miles by railway. 
Until the revolution of 1688, Eamsgate was a small fishing- 
place, with a wooden pier ; but after that time a trade with 
Russia was opened, which added greatly to the wealth and 



168 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

importance of the town, and at the end of the last century the 
harbour was improved and the present splendid pier erected. 
The harbour encloses an area of forty-eight acres, and affords 
shelter to vessels driven by heavy gales from the Downs. 
The pier is built of Cornish granite and Portland stone, 
and extends 2,000 feet on the east side and about half 
that length on the west; it is one of the longest in the 
kingdom. The old town of Eamsgate stands in a hollow in 
the chalk cliff, called in Thanet a ' gate ' or ' stair ; ' but the 
new town is built on the heights, and commands a wide sea 
view. Eamsgate is a member of the Cinque Port of Sand- 
wich. 

Folkestone, in Kent, is 75 miles from London direct, and 83 
miles by railway. From early times it has been a place of some 
note. Eemains of a Eoman entrenchment are still visible on 
a neighbouring height, and a Saxon castle once stood on the 
cliff, but it has almost been swept away by the encroachment 
of the sea. Folkestone is a member of the Cinque Port of 
Dover, and owes its chief importance to its being the custom- 
house and packet-station from Boulogne, on the French coast. 

Hastings, in Sussex, is next in importance to Dover as a 
Cinque-port town. It is 64 miles south-east of London, 
and 74 by South Eastern Eailway, and stands at the base 
of cliffs from 300 to 600 feet high, which almost enclose 
it, leaving it open only to the south. The town lies so close 
upon the sea that its atmosphere is more entirely marine than 
that of almost any other part of the coast. Hastings consists 
of an old and new town. The old town is one of the most 
ancient in England, and is supposed to have derived its name 
from a Saxon tribe', called the Hsestingas. The battle of 
Hastings was fought seven miles distant, at a small town, called 
thence Battle ; and here William the Conqueror, in com- 
memoration of the event, built Battle Abbey, the ruins of 
which remain. A church in a wood, with a pretty legend at- 
tached to it, is one of the curiosities of Hastings. A church was 
designed on a height, but every morning the workmen found 
that their materials had been carried away ; till one bright 



COAST TOWNS. 169 

Sunday morning the sound of church bells issued from Hol- 
lington Wood, and on following a tiny footpath through the 
trees, the people found, to their amazement, the neat little 
church of Hollington, ' which the angels had built.' The new 
town of Hastings merges into the quite modern town of 
St. Leonards, which was begun in 1828, for the accommodation 
of visitors who could find no lodging at Hastings. 

Eastbourne, in Sussex, is a small bathing-place, lying east 
of the great promontory of Beachy Head, in the west corner 
of Pevensey Bay, and is distant from London 63 miles by 
road, and 65 by railway. Eastbourne is supposed to have 
been the site of the Eoman station, Portus Anderida. The 
place is fortified. At Holywell, in the neighbourhood, there 
are chalybeate springs. 

Brighton, or Brighthelmstone, in Sussex, the queen of 
English watering-places, lies in the middle of the curved line 
of coast which is bounded on the east by Beachy Head, and on 
the west by Selsea Bill. It is 52 miles from London 'by 
road, and 50^- by rail. A little more than a century ago, 
Brighton was merely a fishing-place, and the town stood 
formerly under the high chalk-cliffs which the South Downs 
form on the east ; but storms and hurricanes and irruptions of 
the sea swept all the houses away, and part of one of the old 
streets, called South Street, was found, in 1818, fifteen feet 
below the surface of the beach. About the middle of the last 
century, a Dr. Russell pronounced Brighton to be suitable for 
a watering-place, and in 1782 the fortune of the town was 
made by George IV., then Prince of Wales, selecting it for his 
summer and autumn residence, and building his Marine 
Pavilion, which became the centre of modern Brighton. The 
town now occupies a shore-line three miles long, facing the 
English Channel, and is built on a slope protected on the north 
by the South Downs. 

Worthing, in Sussex, 61 miles from London, began to be re- 
sorted to as a watering-place at the end of the last century. 
The situation is low and flat, no part of the town being more 
than twenty feet above the sea level ; but its proximity to the 



170 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

Downs, and the richness of the surrounding country, render it 
attractive. 

Bournemouth, in Hampshire, so called from the brook or 
bourne on which it stands, has only lately sprung into existence 
as a watering-place, and, according to Dr. Granville, is one of 
those sea nooks that seem specially made for invalids. It lies 
in a valley chine, in the centre of a curved sweep of coast 
facing the English Channel, and is thus open only to the 
south sea-breezes, and sheltered inland by two banks of cliffs, 
which divide the valley just enough to allow of free ventila- 
tion, and yet maintain the atmosphere warm and equal 
throughout the year. 

Weymouth, in Dorset, on the river Wey, is a very ancient 
town, and was important as a trading port in the fourteenth 
century. A Mr. Ealph Allen, of Bath, first brought it into 
repute as a bathing-place in 1763, and George III. increased 
its popularity by frequently visiting it, and having a royal lodge 
erected. Facing the east, the air is bracing and invigorating, 
and for a blow of pure sea-air, the Esplanade is scarcely 
inferior to a quarter-deck! 

The example of George III. contributed much towards the 
practice of regularly visiting the south coast for health. For 
consumptives, especially, the fine mild air of Devonshire was 
prescribed by London physicians, and consequently the old 
fishing- stations and ports on its coast have of late years been 
converted into watering-places ; and no less than five, viz. 
Sidmouth, Exmouth, Dawlish, Teignmouth, and Torquay, lie 
tolerably close together, on the eastern sweep of its curved 
shore. Of these, Exmouth, on the Ex, is the oldest ; it was 
one of the chief ports on this coast in the time of King John, 
and, as a watering-place, dates from the beginning of the last 
century. It has declined in popularity of late years, owing to 
the exposed situation of the town and the defects of the sea- 
bathing, and the rising importance of Torquay. Sidmouth, in 
the valley of the Sid, was formerly one of the principal fishing- 
towns of Devonshire. The fishery has declined, and it has 
recently become a bathing-place. Dawlish, about midway 



COAST TOWNS. 171 

between the Ex and the Teign, has made but little progress as 
a watering-place, but is a favourite retreat for its pleasant 
cottage residences, the shady lanes, and fine open roads over 
healthy downs in the neighbourhood, and especially for its 
fine sea-air, entirely free from the effluvia of a harbour. 
Teignmouth stands on the left bank at the mouth of the 
river Teign. The bridge over the Teign is the most striking 
feature of the place; it was opened in 1827, and is 1,671 feet 
long. Torquay, on the north side of Tor Bay, although not 
a bathing-town, is the most frequented of the Devonshire 
watering-places, from the reputation its climate enjoys of 
being warm and equable, and from the picturesqueness of its 
situation. Torquay is a very small bay within the larger one 
of Torbay, inclosed seawards by two piers and quays, and 
terminating in two headlands, Eockwalk Hill and Park Hill. 
A screen of richly -wooded hills shelters the town, and on the 
declivities are whole lines of terraces, villas, and cottages, 
mostly used as winter quarters for invalids. 

On the Somersetshire coast, facing the Bristol Channel and 
the entrance to the Severn, there are almost as many bathing- 
places as there are towns and hamlets on the beach. The two 
principal are Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare, where the sea 
recedes to such a length in ebbing, that at one part of the day 
it nearly washes the basements of the houses, and at another 
it is scarely visible as a distant line beyond an immense tract 
of sand. 

South Wales has two watering-places, Tenby and Aberyst- 
with ; both of them old and important seaports, and only of 
late years used as bathing-places. Tenby, in Pembrokeshire, 
on the west shore of Carmarthen Bay, is a large fishing-place, 
and was originally built in the time of Henry I. by the 
Flemish colonists, who brought here the woollen manufacture, 
and dealt largely with the continent. The town was fortified 
with a castle and bastioned walls, which were strengthened 
additionally on the approach of the Spanish Armada. After 
the civil wars, the place fell into decay, and was revived only 
recently as a summer watering-place. Aberystwith (on the 



172 THE BEITISH' ISLES. 

Ystwith), in Cardiganshire, facing St. George's Channel, near 
the junction of the Eheidol and Ystwith rivers, has also its 
ancient walls and castle, and is the largest town in the county. 
It has a harbour, and regular traders to London, Liverpool, and 
Bristol. Near the town are chalybeate springs. 

North Wales is rich in watering-places, owing to the 
attractiveness of its beautiful mountain scenery. There are 
three in Merionethshire facing Cardigan Bay, viz. Aberdovey, 
Towyn, and Barmouth. The chief of these is Barmouth, on 
the Man or Mowddach ; hence its name of Aberman, cor- 
rupted into Berman, and thence anglicised into Barmouth. 
It was formerly a place of considerable trade in woollens. 
Caernarvon has three bathing -places — Bangor, Llandudno, 
and Penmaenmaur. Bangor is an old cathedral town, near 
the northern entrance of the Menai Strait, in the slate- 
quarrying district. It has increased in importance since the 
opening of the Chester and Holyhead railway. Llandudno 
was, until lately, a village in a wild and sequestered spot on 
the eastern side of the promontory forming the Great Orme's 
Head, and is now a much-visited watering-place. Penmaen- 
maur, a village on the north coast, lies close to the shore at the 
foot of the mountain of the same name ; and, although it has 
at present no regular facilities for bathing, it is becoming a 
favourite resort. Abergele in Denbighshire, and Ehyl in 
Flintshire, on the shore of the Irish Sea, have both risen into 
importance as watering-places since the opening of the Chester 
and Holyhead railway. 

On the north-west coast of England several bathing-places 
have been formed, which are to the great commercial capitals 
of the North what Brighton, Eamsgate, and Margate are to 
London. Thus Liverpool has its New Brighton, Manchester 
its Southport, and Preston its Blackpool. New Brighton had 
its origin about forty years ago in the enterprise of a private 
individual, who bought some land for a trifling sum among a 
desolate waste of sandhills on the Cheshire coast, near the 
mouth of the Mersey, and planted there a bathing settlement, 
which has now become a flourishing town, and its soft delicious 



COAST TOWNS. 173 

sands a favourite resort of the more wealthy classes in Lanca- 
shire. The sea-village of Crosby Waterloo, on the same low 
sands, is more frequented by the middle classes and wealthy 
shopkeepers of Liverpool. Southport, to the south of the en- 
trance into the Kibble, is buried in sandhills, and so sheltered 
by them that its climate is suited for invalids all the year 
round. Blackpool, to the north of the Eibble, so called from 
a dark-looking ' pool,' or stream, at the south of the village, is 
characterised by its extent of fine hard sands, its absence of 
all rocks, and bracing air. 

On the north-east coast, Northumberland has one bathing- 
place, Tynemouth, on the Tyne, where the inhabitants of New- 
castle and the neighbourhood may enjoy the luxury of wash- 
ing off the sooty deposit from the coal districts in the waves of 
the North Sea. Durham has one provincial bathing-place, 
viz. Hartlepool, named by the Normans Hart-le-pol, or the 
Pool of Hart. It stands on a small peninsula near the mouth 
of the Tees. 

The principal watering-place on the east coast is Scar- 
borough, in the North Eiding of Yorkshire, 253 J miles from 
London. It stands on a semicircular bay, open towards the 
south and south-west, and protected on the north and north- 
east by a steep promontory, with an old castle on the summit, 
built in the time of King Stephen. Its name of Scarborough, 
meaning a ' fortified rock,' is Saxon, but the place is believed to 
have been originally a Eoman station. It possesses unusual 
advantages as a watering-place ; the sands are smooth and 
slope gently to the sea; the water is perfectly pure and 
marine, having no large river near to influence it, and on the 
margin of the sea are two excellent chalybeate springs. 

North of Scarborough, also in the North Eiding, the old 
seaport of Whitby has lately been converted into a bathing- 
place. The town is believed to have arisen from the founda- 
tion of an abbey, built in 658, and was long a considerable 
fishing-place, and rose into commercial importance in the time 
of Elizabeth, from its vicinity to the alum mines. The jet 
found in the neighbouring cliffs has given rise to a manufac- 



174 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

ture of jet ornaments in the place. In the East Hiding are 
two bathing-places, Bridlington and Filey, which last pos- 
sesses the finest sands on the coast, extending three miles. 
Cromer, on the north coast of Norfolk, has recently "become a 
watering-place. The sea here has made visible encroachments 
on the land ; houses have been destroyed on the coast within 
the last century, and in the fifteenth century a whole village, 
called Shipden, was washed away. 

SPAS. 

The medical virtue of certain mineral springs dispersed 
throughout the country, has caused a class of towns, or places 
of more or less resort, to spring up in their neighbourhood, 
called Spas, from Spaa, a small town in Belgium, celebrated 
for its chalybeate waters. Most of these spas are inland, but 
some being on the coast, combine the advantage of sea-bathing 
with that of their medicinal waters. Chalybeate springs (from 
chalybs, steel) are mineral waters in which iron predominates, 
and are useful, therefore, as a rule, to persons who require 
tonics; and there are hundreds of these simple chalybeate 
springs in the country, especially in the North. But in many 
springs the iron is combined with other ingredients, such as 
carbonic acid, sulphuric acid, alumina, or hydrochloric acid, 
which render the springs essentially different as to their me- 
dical properties, and to the taste either saltish, bitter, soapy, 
astringent, or nauseous. The temperature of these springs also 
varies, and especially affects their value for bathing purposes; 
they seldom exceed the usual temperature of spring water, 
and generally are lower ; Buxton, Matlock, and Clifton Wells 
being the only tepid spas in England, and the springs at Bath 
the only hot ones. The principal English spas are as follows : 



Aldfield. 
Askerne. 


Northern Spas. 


Croft. 
Dinsdale. 


Butterby. 




G-uisborough. 


Calverley. 




Grilsland. 



SPASa 175 



Harrogate. Scarborough. 

Horley Green. Shotley Bridge. 

Knaresborough. Slaithwaite. 

Lockwood. Shapwells. 

New Malton. Thorpe Arch. 



Midland Spas. 

Ashby-de-la-Zouch. Leamington. 

Bath. Malvern. 

Buxton. Matlock. 

Cheltenham. Tenbury. 

Clifton Wells. Tunbridge Wells. 

Gloucester Spa. Victoria Spa. 

Hockley Spa. Woodhall Spa. 

The chief spas in Scotland are Hartfell, Peterhead, Dun- 
blane, and Bonnington ; and Sandrcck Spa is in the Isle of 
Wight. 

Many of these spas are mere villages, or assemblages of 
dwellings built for the convenience of visitors to the wells ; 
but others are places of considerable note and importance. 

Bath, the capital of Somersetshire, was long the most 
fashionable watering-place in England, and considered one of 
the most beautiful cities in Europe. It stands on the Lower 
Avon ; the ground on which it is built belongs to the great west- 
ern oolitic range, and rises from the river's bank in a series of 
terraces. Originally Bath was a Roman station and bathing- 
place, mentioned by Ptolemy as Aquas Calidse, and in the 
Antonine Itinerary as Aquas Solis. Extensive remains of 
Eoman baths were discovered here in 1755, and on the site of 
these a monastery had been built by the monks, who also 
erected baths where the great pump-room now stands. The 
volcanic springs rise near the centre of the town, and are four 
in number ; three of them belonging to the corporation, and 
one to the lord of the manor, Lord Manvers. On first flowing 
from the earth the water is transparent, but it soon loses its 
brilliancy and yields a precipitate ; the temperature of the 
springs ranges from 109° to 117°, and the use of the water is 



176 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

most serviceable in cases of rheumatism, gout, palsy, sciatica, 
and skin disease. 

Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire, on the river Chelt, lies in 
a vale at the foot of the Cotswold Hills. It was a mere country 
village until the discovery of its saline springs in 1716, and 
suddenly rose into competition with Bath as a fashionable 
watering-place, in 1788, when George III. was advised to try 
the waters, and found benefit from them. It has four spas, all 
of them saline, and chiefly useful in dyspeptic cases ; but the 
air of Cheltenham is so mild, from its sheltered position, that 
the place is also a great resort for consumptives. 

Clifton, in Gloucestershire, a suburb of Bristol — so named 
from the precipitous heights on which it stands overhanging 
the Avon — owed all its early importance to its slightly saline 
waters, miscalled Hotwells, since the temperature never rises 
above 76°. The springs are now but little used, but the place 
is still much resorted to for its pure and bracing air. 

Tunbridge Wells, in Kent, is six miles from the old town 
of Tonbridge or Tunbridge, so called from its having a bridge 
over the river Tun, a branch of the Medway. The chalybeate 
spring was discovered in the time of James L, and the wells 
were visited by Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I., who, 
however, was obliged to live with her suite under tents during 
her stay, since there was no accommodation nearer than at the 
town of Tunbridge. Her visit gave notoriety to the place, 
and after the Restoration the new town sprang up rapidly. The 
waters are strongly impregnated with iron, and show a red 
precipitate ; but the wells are not much used at present, and 
the place owes far more of its popularity to its healthy climate, 
pleasant locality, and excellent accommodation for visitors. 

Great Malvern, in Worcestershire, lies on the east of the 
Malvern Hills ; about three miles to the south is the village 
of Little Malvern, and between the two Malverns are the 
wells, St. Ann's and Holy Well. The virtue of the water 
consists in its extreme purity, and used as common water it is 
simply an aid to the pure air and medical appliances of the 
place in the restoration of invalids. 



spas. 177 

Leamington Pkiors, in Warwickshire, stands in the valley 
of the Learn, which river divides the old town from the new, 
and joins the Avon about a mile distant. The town is of 
modern date, and within the memory of some of its inhabitants 
Leamington was a small picturesque village, beautifully situated 
in pleasant vicinity to the old oak and park scenery of War- 
wickshire. More than a century ago, mineral springs were found 
there, which physicians from Coventry, Birmingham, and 
Northampton endeavoured to bring into notoriety, and it is. 
mentioned in the early history of the place, that one aristocratic 
visitor had been attracted to the spa, ' an Honourable Mistress 
Leigh.' In 1794 Dr. Lambe spoke favourably of the Leaming- 
ton waters in the ' Memoirs . of the Manchester Philosophical 
Society,' and his recommendation is said to have attracted no 
less than i three duchesses in one season,' * who resolved to 
bring Leamington to a par with Cheltenham ; and it is mentioned 
as a singular fact, that as rapidly as new springs were discovered 
at Cheltenham, new springs were found in equal number at 
Leamington. The springs are chalybeate, sulphurous, and 
saline. There are five wells now in use, four of which are 
nearly clustered together in the original village to the south 
of the Learn, now called Old Town ; but one spring more 
lately discovered to the north, forms now the Royal Spa in 
the pump-room, and about this site a new town has been 
rapidly forming within the last thirty years. The waters, when 
drunk, are useful chiefly as an alterative in cases of debility, 
and when bathed in, their saline properties give them the 
strengthening effect of a sea- water bath. Besides its great 
natural attractions as a place of residence and resort, Learning"- 
ton has owed its rise and popularity of late years as much to a 
resident physician, Dr. Jephson, as to its mineral waters, and 
is indebted to him for public gardens well laid out, in which 
is a marble statue of the donor. 

Buxton, in Derbyshire, lies in a deep valley near the Wye } 
almost surrounded by hills. Its springs appear to have been 

* Dr. Granville's Spas of England. 

N 



178 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

known to the Romans, and it was a watering-place in the six- 
teenth century, the baths being connected with a shrine, on 
which the visitors laid offerings as payment for their use. The 
water has a natural heat of about 86° ; its efficacy seems chiefly 
owing to its temperature, since it has very few chemical ingre- 
dients and is perfectly insipid. It is used principally for 
bathing purposes, and is beneficial in cases of rheumatism, 
gout, and paralysis. Buxton owes its modern expansion in 
great measure to the patronage of the late Dukes of Devonshire. 

Matlock Bath, in Derbyshire, is on the left bank of the 
Derwent, two miles from the old village of Matlock. The 
exceeding beauty of the region with its green dales and shel- 
tering heights, the healthiness of the air, the caves and petri- 
factions, contribute much more to the attraction of the place 
than its mineral springs. The tepid waters have a tempera- 
ture of only 68°, and are chiefly beneficial in dyspepsia. 

Ashby de la Zouch, in Leicestershire, stands on the river 
Mease, a branch of the Trent. The addition of de la Zouch 
was made to its former name of Ashby in compliment to the 
family of Zouches, who were lords of the manor. The Ivanhoe 
Wells is a bitter saline spring, discovered in 1805, at the 
bottom of the Moira colliery, about three miles from the 
town, and seems, like many other salt springs, to belong to 
the great saltiferous belt partly connected with the coal-fields 
which crosses England diagonally from north-east to south- 
west. The water is chiefly used for bathing, but the presence 
in it of muriate of magnesia renders it a successful medicine in 
complaints of the digestive organs. 

Harrogate, in a healthy district in the West Riding of York- 
shire, is one of the principal watering-places in the north of Eng- 
land ; but, although it is more than 300 years since its springs 
were first discovered, by a Captain William Slingsby, it still 
remains scarcely more than a village. Chalybeate springs were 
first found at High Harrogate, but the spas which give the 
place its chief celebrity are the genuine sulphureted, fetid 
waters of the Old Well at Low Harrogate, discovered a century 
and a half later. Still more recently pure saline springs have 



spas. 179 

been found, and thus the waters at Harrogate are serviceable 
in a variety of cases, but chiefly in liver complaints., glandular 
and cutaneous disease, and rheumatism. Low Harrogate is 
the most genuine spa in England in this respect, that the waters 
cf the Old Well are drawn direct from the soil without any 
intervention of pipes and pumps. In the Montpelier Gardens 
the water is pumped up in the usual fashion, and saline and 
sulphur waters are tapped side by side ; and as the saline of 
Harrogate contains a large proportion of oxide of iron, the two 
waters are so incompatible, that when a tumbler is half filled 
from one pipe and then filled up from the other, the mixture 
is converted into a liquid something like ink. 

Guisborough, at the foot of the Cleveland Hills, in the North 
Eiding of Yorkshire, is interesting from being the birth-place 
of Captain Cook, and also from having been the site of the first 
alum-manufacture in England, during Elizabeth's reign. The 
alum-works are now abandoned, but from the alum-shale strata 
issues the slightly sulphureted spring which has made of 
Guisborough a watering-place of a humble and primitive kind, 

Sandrock Spring, at the south of the Isle of Wight, is the 
most powerful chalybeate known in the country. The spring 
was first found in 1808, by Mr. Waterworth, a surgeon of 
Newport, who enclosed it in the present building ; but its water 
was first thoroughly analysed by Dr. Marcet. The large 
amount of sulphate of iron and alum in its composition renders 
it a most powerful tonic, and it is beneficial in diseases which 
arise from prostration of the nervous system, in hypochondria- 
sis, and cases of extreme debility. The spring rises 150 feet 
above the sea level, in the midst of the romantic scenery of 
the Undercliff, half way between Niton and the village of 
Chale. 



n2 



180 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Internal Communication. 

roads. 

Roads are among the first signs of human settlement in a land; 
feet of men and beasts of burthen soon trample out paths in 
the shortest and easiest direction between the places where 
people have congregated, and soon art is employed to make 
these paths more level and convenient, and more specially- 
adapted to various purposes ; until, as men multiply, and the 
need of intercourse increases, the lines of communication inter- 
sect the whole country, and, like the arteries and veins of a 
living body, keep up the constant circulation of human affairs 
and interests. 

The state and nature of roads is a ready indication of the 
British condition of a people. The old ridge-ways and 
Roads. track- ways of the Britons, traces of which are still 
visible in Wiltshire and Berkshire, were apparently little more 
than first rude attempts at road-making, and formed a remark- 
able contrast to the Roman roads, which it seems, that the 
Britons were compelled to aid in constructing, since they 
complained bitterly that the Romans ' put their hands and 
bodies to the drudgery of clearing woods and paving fens.' 
' It marks strongly,' says the Rev. C. Kingsley, the ' difference 
between the two races — that difference between the Roman 
paved road, with its established common way for all passengers, 
its regular stations and milestones, and the Celtic trackway, 
winding irresolutely along in innumerable ruts, parting to 
meet again, as if each savage had taken his own fresh path 
when he found the next line of ruts too heavy for his cattle.' 
The roads or streets (strata) of the Romans have been the 
Roman most durable monuments of their stay in the island, 
Roads. anc [ i n many cases have formed the foundation of our 



ROADS. 181 

present highways. They were constructed after a bold and 
simple plan, which established military communication with all 
the principal stations of the country, and consisted of four or 
five main lines which crossed the island from sea to sea : one 
point of junction being the colossal British mound of Old Sarum, 
in Wiltshire. Thus, Watling Street began at Dover, passed 
through London, and ended at Chester; and Watling Street, 
still in the heart of London, and the road to Henton across 
Hampstead Heath, are supposed to be remains of this via 
strata, or paved way of the Romans, which is imagined to 
have derived its name either from Vitellianus, who directed 
the work, or to have been connected by the Saxons with some 
mythic legend, and dedicated to the ' sons of Waetla.' The 
Saxons afterwards either paid homage to the road or to the 
King Waetla of their mythology, by naming the Milky Way 
also Waetlinga Straet. Ikeneld Street ran from Norfolk to 
Cornwall ; Eyknield Street, from the Tyne to Gloucester, and 
thence to St. David's ; Ermyn Street crossed through Watling 
Street, and ran from Suffolk through London to Lincoln. 
This road the Saxons named after the Mercury of their mytho- 
logy, Eormen, or Heimdal, keeper of the rainbow and the 
paths of heaven. The Fosse Way ran from Devonshire to 
Lincoln ; and, besides these main lines there were other 
special roads, such as the Salt Ways, starting from the salt- 
works at Droitwich, and Akeman Street, leading to Bath — 
Bath being named by the Saxons, Akemannes-Ceaster, or the 
City of Invalids. 

The period of fierce strife between Saxons, Danes, and 
Normans, which succeeded the Roman occupation, tended 
rather to the demolition of the Roman roads than to any 
improvement of the public ways ; and it is not until the reign 
of Edward I., in 1285, that there is any law extant relating to 
roads, and then it was enjoined that i those ways be enlarged 
where bushes, woods, or dykes be, where men may lurk ; so 
that there be neither dyke, tree, nor bush within 200 yards of 
those roads, great trees excepted ; ' shewing that the clearing 



182 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

away was more for the sake of expelling the robbers, than be- 
cause the peaceful traffic of the day required wider highways.* 

The first toll for the repair of the public roads appears to 
have been levied in Edward III.'s reign, 1346 ; but for many 
succeeding reigns there seems to have been remarkable 
economy practised with respect to using the public funds for 
this purpose, and every encouragement offered to induce pri- 
vate persons to undertake the business. Thus in Henry 
VIII.'s time, the highways are described as having * become so 
deep and noyous by the wearing of water, that people cannot 
pass but to their great pains, perils, and jeopardy ; ' and by a 
special Act, any person w r ho should make a new road was 
offered the old road for his pains. 

In 1663, Charles II.'s reign, the first Turnpike Act was 
Turnpike passed, and from that time were issued Acts regu- 
Act, 1663. lating the weight of vehicles drawn along the road ; 
but according to Ogilby's i Itinerarium Anglias,' a Road Guide 
published from 1675 to 1717, the progress of improvement 
was still very limited, and there was scarcely a road in Eng- 
land • commendable for its goodness ; ' or, it may be added, 
commendable for its pleasantness either, since the gibbet was 
the almost unfailing ornament of the w T ay-side, ano! was seldom 
to be seen without its dangling appendage. Indeed, the 
gallows seems to have served the purpose of sign- post, and 
directions commonly run in this fashion — ' By the Gallows and 
three Windmills enter the suburbs of York.' ' From Bristol 
you go up a steep ascent, leaving the Gibbet on your right.' 

Travellers, either on business or pleasure, had in those days 
the best opportunities for seeing the country as they passed 
along, since journeys, especially by the nobility and gentry, 
were mostly performed on horseback ; the men being well 
booted, spurred, and armed, and ready to encounter the perils 
of the way, and the women strapped behind them ; or else, in 
pannier and pillion fashion, the ladies were strapped down in 

* Philp's History of Progress in Great Britain. 



ROADS. 183 

baskets on each side of the horse, with a cavalier on the saddle 
in the middle. The traffic of the country was chiefly carried 
on by means of pack-horses, often linked together in a line of 
forty or fifty, with tinkling bells suspended to the head-gear 
of the leader. 

Coaches had been introduced in Elizabeth's reign, 1564, by 
William Boomen, a Dutchman : but we are told by 

Coaches 

a writer in 1623, that 'the sight of one put both introduced, 
horse and man to amazement. Some said it was a 162 °' 
great crab -shell brought out of China, and some imagined it to 
be one of the Pagan temples, in which the cannibals adore the 
devil.' And the same writer adds : * the mischiefs that have 
been done by them are not to be numbered, as breaking of 
legges and armes, overthrowing down hills, over bridges, run- 
ning over children, lame and old people.' Invalid ladies did 
indeed sometimes ride in their whirlicotes, and on great occa- 
sions the royalty and nobility went out in their l cartes ; ' but 
against public conveyances the prejudice was so great, that in 
1672 an agitation was organised against stage-coaches as a 
national evil, on the ground that c it would destroy the breed 
of good horses, and make men neglect horsemanship,' as well 
as c render many valuable people useless to themselves and 
families by broken limbs ; ' that it would ruin the road- side 
inns and injure the revenue, ' because, instead of people riding 
their journeys on horseback, and having to alight and take 
drink at the inns, they reclined lazily in the coaches, and went 
a long way without spending money ; ' that it would ruin the 
trade of the watermen, the boot-makers, the saddle and pillion- 
makers, &c, &c. ; and lastly, on moral grounds, coaches were 
highly objectionable, inasmuch as ' passage to London being 
so easy, gentlemen came to London ofbener than they need,' 
and their ladies were sure to ' quickly follow them ; and 
when they were there, they must have all the new fashions, 
buy all their clothes there, go to plays, balls, and treats, where 
they get such a habit of jollity, that nothing afterwards in the 
country will serve them.' 

Besides the objection to stage coaches on national and 



184 THE BEITISH ISLES. 

moral grounds, there must have been some drawback to the 
benefit to the passengers themselves in the days when the 
ruts on a turnpike road were sometimes ' four feet deep, and 
filled with mud in the summer-time.' * It was a common 
practice for the great folks who went out to dinner in their 
carriages, to send men before them to smooth down the ruts, 
and to make the roads safe at night, by laying down great 
lumps of chalk, through which the coachman — who had been 
dining out too — might keep the carriage in a straight course. 
Moreover, it was not until after the year 1808 that springs were 
generally applied to carriages, and one can quite sympathise with 
a Mr. Edward Parker when he writes to his ' honoured father ' 
in 1663, after a journey in 'ye boote ' to London, that l this 
travel hath soe indisposed mee, yt I am resolved never to ride 
up againe in ye coatch.' What the passengers endured may 
be inferred from the damage to the luggage, since before 
springs were invented, ' a trunk could not be sent fifty miles 
without being knocked to pieces,' and the proprietor of the 
Shrewsbury coach is reported to have had to pay 6001. in one 
year for the damage done to goods by the jostling of his 
coach. Considering also that so late as 1752, the fast coach 
from London to Exeter took four days to the journey, and in 
1763, the one coach from London to Edinburgh took from 
twelve to fourteen days, there does not seem to have been 
much reason for the alarm of one of the above agitators lest 
' the gad-about spirit of the age should ruin the community.' 
From more constant wear, the roads of London were worse 
than those of remoter places, and from the testimony of large 
coach proprietors, eight horses on the more distant roads 
would accomplish more than ten nearer London. The state 
of the bye roads near London may be gathered from this 
account of a journey from London to Guildford, made in 1703 
by George, Prince of Denmark, in order to meet the King of 
Spain at the Duke of Somerset's house at Petworth. It is 
written by one of the attendants, and the distance to be ac- 

* Mr. Arthur Young's Tour in the North of England, 1770. 



ROADS. 185 

complished was about thirty miles : — i We set out at six o'clock 
in the morning to go to Petwortli, and did not get out of the 
coaches (save only when we were overturned or stuck fast in 
the mire) till we arrived at our journey's end. 'Twas hard 
service for the prince to sit fourteen hours in the coach that 
day without eating anything, and passing through the worst 
ways that I ever saw in my life : we were thrown but once, 
indeed, in going, but both our coach and his highness' s body 
coach, would have suffered very often, if the nimble boors of 
Sussex had not frequently poised it or supported it with their 
shoulders from Godalming almost to Petworth ; and the nearer 
we approached the Duke's house, the more inaccessible it 
seemed to be. The last nine miles of the way cost us six 
hours' time to conquer them, and indeed we had never done 
it if our good master had not several times lent his pair of 
horses out of his own coach, whereby we were enabled to 
trace out the way for him.' The c long poles and Ian thorns ' 
which we are told the Duke kept for his own use, when he 
travelled that way, do not appear to have been at the service 
of the Prince. In the lanes the ruts were so deep that waggons 
and carts were seldom expected to pass along them without 
extra help ; only it was customary, in order to save time, to 
wait till a whole line of waggons had got stuck fast, and then 
to lash together twenty or thirty horses to draw them out one 
by one. 

But notwithstanding the need for improvement, no sooner 
had turnpike gates been set up, than riots broke out in con- 
sequence, and mobs assembled to pull them down, and to 
resist the l tyrannical imposition ' of turnpike tolls. Various 
vested interests cried out loudly, that to repair the highways 
would bring ruin upon themselves, and be of no possible use 
to the public. The farmers of the counties about London 
petitioned that turnpike roads should only extend to their own 
district, because, if by any means hay and corn were to be 
brought to the London market from the remoter and cheaper 
counties, prices would fall, and they should lose the monopoly. 
The coachmen complained that if the roads were made too 
good, the horses were sure to trip, because the drivers became 



186 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

careless. One old Marlborough coachman could never be 
brought to use the new highway, but persisted in jolting and 
jumbling his coach along the old waggon track ; and a certain 
Blandford waggoner expressed the sentiments of his class, 
when he declared that i roads on'y be good for wun thing — 
for waggon- drivin. I on'y wunt vour voot width in a leane, 
an arl the rest may goo to the devil. The gentry ought to 
steay at whoam, rot-em, and not run gossippin oop an deown 
the country.' 

The Rebecca riots in Wales in 1842-3, have been the last 
outbreak of mob-excitement against the repair of roads. 

At the beginning of the present century, the genius of 
Loudon M'Adam, born 1756, and of Thomas Telford, born 
1757, was applied with such success to the repair and con- 
struction of highways, that they have since been rendered safe 
and durable at an enormous reduction of cost. The old 
method of making roads was to throw down the stones that 
most abounded in the neighbourhood, large and small together, 
just as they were found or dug from the quarry ; and thus 
there were flint roads in Essex, Kent and Sussex, limestone roads 
in Gloucester, Somerset and Wilts, and great round pebble 
roads in many of the middle counties. M'Adam's improve- 
ment consisted in breaking up the stones into fragments of a 
size and shape that would consolidate and form a smooth, hard 
surface, and thus his plan was specially adapted to the repair 
of roads the old displaced materials of which could be broken 
up and re-laid. 

Telford's system applied more exclusively to the construc- 
tion of roads, and chiefly consisted in making a rough pave- 
ment of hand-laid stones on the bed of the road, to serve as a 
foundation for the small broken stones of the surface. Mac- 
adamized pavements were first introduced about the year 1818, 
and the Highland roads begun in 1803, and the Holyhead 
road begun in 1815, were the first highways constructed upon 
Telford's plan, and for the purposes of a great traffic were con- 
sidered as nearly perfect in principle as roads could be, until 
they were superseded by railways. 



RAILWAYS. 187 



RAILWAYS. 

The wooden tramways laid down by Mr. Beaumont in the 
collieries about Newcastle in 1602 may be considered the first 
rough approach to the railway system of England. These 
tramways, at first, were merely made by pieces of wood being 
embedded in the common road, so as to form smooth wheel- 
tracks for the coal- waggons to run along to and from the 
mouth of the pit, and they were in use in various mining 
districts for about a century and a half. 

Gradually, however, this rude design became improved 
upon. First, the road was prepared by levelling, and pieces 
of wood called sleepers were laid cross-ways upon the line as 
a support to the upper ones that formed the wheel-tracks. 
Next, difficult places in the ascent from the pit's mouth were 
made easier to the horse by thin plates of malleable iron 
being nailed over the wood to render the surface smoother. 
Next, at the Colebrook Dale iron works, cast-iron plates were 
fastened all along the wooden rails; then, at the Sheffield 
collieries, the cast-iron rails were made with an upright 
flange, or j)rotecting edge, to prevent the wheels slipping off. 
In 1793, blocks of stone were used for sleepers instead of 
wooden ones; in 1801 edge rails were first used at the slate 
quarries of Lord Penryhn in Wales, upon which plan the 
carriage wheels were grooved in the tire and dove-tailed on to 
a raised block in the rail. 

The first iron railway sanctioned by Parliament was one 
laid down from the Thames at Wandsworth to Croydon in 
1801 ; but as yet horses were the only locomotive force em- 
ployed, although the idea of applying steam power to carriages 
was beginning to be entertained by Watt and other inventors, 
who had already applied it to machinery. In 1805 Messrs. 
Trevithick & Vivian proved its practicability by experiments 
on the Merthyr-Tydvil tramways, and in 1816 George 
Stephenson contrived steam locomotives, which worked suc- 
cessfully on the Newcastle collieries. 



188 THE BKITISH ISLES. 

In 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Kail way, worked by 
First Bail- engines, and constructed by George Stephenson and 
way, 1825. Edward Pease, was opened for passengers. The fol- 
lowing year was begun the Manchester and Liverpool Railway ; 
and this important line, connecting the two great trading 
towns of the empire, was opened in 1830 in the presence of 
the Duke of Wellington and the illustrious of the land ; the 
event being made painfully memorable by the death of 
Mr. Huskisson, who was knocked down by one of the engines. 
In 1837 the Liverpool and Birmingham, or Grand Junction 
Eailway, was opened its whole length, and the railway from 
Birmingham to London in 1838. 

The great lines that now divide the largest amount of traffic 
between them are the London and North Western 1,062 
miles, Great Western 964, North Eastern 867, Great Eastern 
644, Midland 614, London and South-Western 401. Even in 
1859 there were as many as fifty-eight main lines open, and 
the whole country, with the exception of a small part of the 
south of England and the centre of Wales, is one enormous 
network of branch lines, which yearly increases. 

In Scotland, the railways chiefly radiate from the two 
centres of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and are most numerous in 
the central portion. In Ireland, Dublin is the main centre. 

CANALS. 

England is traversed by about 2,800 miles of canals, besides 
about 2,500 miles of rivers that have been made navigable by 
artificial means. It is believed that the Romans dug canals 
in this country ; but the first of which there is any record 
was one made by Henry L, 1134, to join the river Trent to 
the Witham . To the Duke of Bridgewater England is indebted 
for the first great navigable canal of modern times, called after 
him the Bridgewater Canal, and begun at his expense in 1758, 
under the direction of the architect Brindley, in order to convey 
coals from the Duke's pits at Worsley to Manchester, a distance 
of about seven miles, but afterwards extended so as to place 



THE POST. 189 

Manchester and Liverpool in convenient communication by 
water, and so to supersede the old pack-horses, which used to be 
the means of conveying the Lancashire merchandize. By this 
great private enterprise the staple trade of the country was im- 
mensely benefited, and Watt's new steam engine obtained a 
timely supply of the fuel it required from the coal-mines of 
Worsley. 

The oldest canal in England is the Sankey Brook Canal in 
Lancashire, begun in 1755, to convey coals from the pits of 
St. Helen's to the Mersey. The longest canal in England is 
the Leeds and Liverpool, 127 miles, which connects the Irish 
Sea with the German Ocean. The longest canal in Scotland 
is the Caledonian, 60 miles, which connects the Moray Firth 
with the Atlantic. The longest in Ireland is the Grand Canal, 
87 miles, which connects the Irish Sea with the Atlantic by 
running from Dublin to Banagher, on the Shannon. 

POSTAL COMMUNICATION. 

No post office existed before the seventeenth century. When 
kings and nobles were wont to sign their names with a cross, 
and the art of expressing thought by written words was con- 
fined to the monks and the learned few, there was little need 
for postal arrangements, and the correspondence of the kingdom 
was chiefly that connected with state affairs. Kings and the 
more powerful of the nobles kept their own establishments of 
Nuncii, who had charge of the conveyance of letters. About 
the time of King John, the Nuncius seems to have had to pro- 
vide his own horses and riders ; but in the reign of Edward II. 
relays of horses and riders were kept at fixed posts or stations, 
and Edward IV. during the Scottish wars in 1481 is stated to 
have sent letters by this means 200 miles in two days. The 
superscription of ' Haste, post haste,' found on letters of the 
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, shews that the post was then 
recognised as the speediest means of transmission. 

In order to meet the exigencies of his troubled reign, 
Charles I. attempted, but without success, to esta- First Post 
blish a letter office for England and Scotland, and in 0ffice > 1649 - 



190 THE BEITISH ISLES. 

the year of his execution, 1649, the first post office for the 
weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the kingdom was 
started by the Commonwealth, and afterwards much improved 
upon by Cromwell. Despatch and safety, however, were not 
the characteristics of even Cromwell's improved post-office ; 
for the mails were intrusted to boys on horseback, or else 
were sent by carts made for the purpose, which were distin- 
guished by being the slowest conveyances going, for while the 
London and Bath coach managed the distance in seventeen 
hours, the post accomplished it in forty. In 1784, Mr. John 
Palmer, manager of the Bath Theatre, suggested the plan of 
sending the mail by coaches, which should be bound to per- 
form the journey in a specified time, and the scheme being 
supported by Mr. Pitt, was carried into operation, in spite of 
violent opposition from the post-office functionaries. The 
first mail coach was started between London, Bath, and 
Bristol. The last mail coach, the old Derby mail, the ' Derby 
Dilly,' finished its course in 1858, its unrivalled four-in-hand 
having stoutly kept up the old coaching glory amidst the hills 
and peaks of Derbyshire, until finally it was swept off the 
road, like all its brethren, by the iron horse of the railway. 

In 1840 Mr. Eowland Hill's system of penny postage came 
into operation, and in 1861 the deliveries were estimated at 
593,240,000, making an average of 24 letters to each person in 
England, 18 in Scotland, and 9 in Ireland. 

TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION. 

Telegraphs (from rrjXe, distant, and ypcKpio, write), or con- 
trivances for giving signals at a distance, have been common 
from the earliest times ; but before electricity was employed, 
the intelligence was always conveyed by means of visible 
objects, within the range of the eye or telescope. Beacon 
lights and fires were the most primitive methods of signalling ; 
then various machines became invented, which hoisted figures 
that stood for alphabetical characters or numerals. French 
signal-posts, or semaphores, with movable arms, represented 



THE TELEGRAPH. 191 

the numerals by turning upon pivots in different positions ; 
shutter-posts gave signs by means of different degrees of 
opening between coloured boards or shutters. Mr. E. L. 
Edgeworthmade experiments with windmill sails in 1767, and 
official conversation was for long carried on between the top- 
masts at Spithead and the ramparts at Portsmouth by means of 
nags, white handkerchiefs, and black hats. 

The idea of using electricity as a medium for conveying 
messages had been long entertained before it was Fi rs t 
practically carried out, and this was first done by Telegraph 
Messrs. Wheatstone & Cooke, who contrived a 1837 - 
simple apparatus for working the trains on the Blackwall 
railway in 1837, consisting of voltaic batteries and conducting 
wires, by means of which the signals ' stop ' and * go on ' were 
communicated to each station. 

By the year 1854, the system had reached to such a degree 
of completeness, that a central telegraph station at Lothbury, 
behind the Bank of England, had been established, from which 
office, at all hours by clay and night, despatches were trans- 
mitted to and received from every seaport and considerable 
toAvn in England, Scotland, and Wales, from all parts of 
Ireland by submarine wires, and from all parts of the conti- 
nent of Europe where electric telegraphs had been constructed, 
by the Dover submarine cable. At the present time, more than 
30,000 miles of telegraph wires are in operation. Each town, 
port, and almost every village station, has now its telegraph 
office, and is thus in instantaneous communication with all the 
rest of the kingdom; and even houses in some of onr largest 
towns are now beginning to be connected by telegraph. 



192 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

CHAPTER VII. 

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT. 

The Constitution of England is the whole assemblage of laws 
by which the people have agreed to be governed; the 
Government is the power that frames the laws and puts them 
in operation : thus it has been said that £ the Constitution 
is the rule by which the king ought to govern at all times; 
the Government is that by which he does govern at any par- 
ticular time.' 

Although the British Constitution has been the gradual 
growth of time and progress, in its fundamental principle of 
representative government it is about 600 years old, and dates 
from the reign of Henry III., when in 1258, as it appears 
from the writs that are extant, the Commons of England for 
the first time were represented in the great council, or parler- 
la-ment of the nation. But the actual origin of our Constitu- 
tion dates much farther back than this, and must be looked 
for, partly in the old Teutonic institutions brought by the 
Saxons from ancient Germany, and partly in those which were 
introduced by imperial Rome. To the Saxon belonged the 
principle of aristocracy and allegiance to the heads of clans or 
tribes ; to the Roman the principle of centralisation, or 
allegiance to one supreme ruler, together with the principle 
of republicanism, or the right of the people to free citizen- 
ship ; and so ready an acceptance did the republican spirit 
find in the English mind, that in very early days it was said 
that every man born in the land seemed to consider it as much 
his natural right to have a vote as to have a weapon to defend 
himself. 

It is not known, however, whether the people were admitted 

Saxon into the legislature in the Saxon and early Norman 

Councils, times, although great councils of the nation were 

held in England, in common with all the northern Teutonic 



GOVERNMENT. 193 

nations of that period, called by the Saxons michel-synoth, great 
council, michel- gemote, great meeting, or wittena-g emote, 
meeting of wise men ; and there is no distinct blending of the 
three estates of the realm — of king, lords, and commons — which 
marks the British Constitution, until the seventeenth year of 
King John, a.d. 1215, when, in the Great Charter that he 
was compelled to grant, he promises to summon personally 'all 
archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater barons,' and to 
summon through the sheriff and bailiffs all other i tenants in 
chief under the Crown, to meet at a certain place to assess 
aids and rentages when necessary ; ' which Consti- Eirst 
tution was carried into effect in the next reign, when Parliament, 
knights, citizens, and burgesses assembled for the first time in 
parliament, together with the king, prelates, and nobles. 

The leading principles of the Government, as it exists at the 
present day, are as follows : — The Government of the United 
Kingdom is a limited monarchy ; the legislative au- The r^^ 
thority being vested in three powers — king, lords, Estates. 
and commons. All these powers are professedly equal, and no 
laws can be made, or repealed, or altered, without the consent 
of all three. 

The Crown is hereditary, and descends to either male or 
female. The king (from koenig, Saxon for leader) or queen 
(from cqen, Saxon for woman or wife) is the sole executive 
power, and possesses the right of appointing the members of 
the administration, of nominating the great officers of state, of 
the army and navy, of appointing bishops, ambassadors, and 
judges, of conferring all degrees of nobility and knighthood, of 
treating with foreign nations, of making war and peace, of dis- 
solving and proroguing parliament. But although the sovereign 
has these powers, he executes them through his ministers, upon 
whom rests the responsibility of his acts ; and thus it is said 
that ' the king can do no wrong/ And he is moreover checked 
in the undue exercise of these powers by the exclusive right 
of the parliament to vote him supplies. The king may declare 
war, but the representatives of the people may deny him the 
means of levying or paying his armies. 

o 



194 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

The king's ministers, or Chief Officers of State who form 
the Executive, compose what is called the Cabinet ; the term . 
cabinet, from the French, having first been applied to the 
king's privy councils in the reign of Charles I. The present 
Cabinet consists of fifteen members, viz. : 

First Lord of the Treasury. Secretary of State, War Depart- 

Lord High Chancellor. ment. 

Chancellor of the Exchequer. Secretary of State for India. 

Lord President of the Council. First Lord of the Admiralty. 

Lord Privy Seal. Postmaster General. 

Secretary of State, Home Depart- President of Board of Trade. 

ment. Chief Commissioner of Poor Law 
Secretary of State, Foreign Affairs. Board. 

Secretary of State for the Colonies. Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster. 

Also included among the Chief Officers of State are, the Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland, the Commander in Chief, and the Com- 
mander of the Forces of Scotland and Ireland. 

The House of Peers, or Upper House of Parliament, is 
the highest judicial court in the kingdom, and appeals may be 
made to it, in all cases not criminal, from the lower courts. It 
is composed of lords spiritual and temporal ; peers of the realm 
sit by hereditary right ; representative peers by election ; and 
bishops by virtue of their temporal rank as barons. At the 
present time (1863) the House consists of the following mem- 
bers: 3 peers of the blood royal; 18 dukes; 18 marquises; 
95 earls ; 17 viscounts; 135 barons; 30 Scotch peers, and 
48 Irish peers, who sit for the United Kingdom; 16 Scotch 
representative peers, who are chosen every Parliament by the 
Scotch peers ; and 28 Irish representative peers, who are chosen 
for life by the Irish peers ; 2 archbishops and 24 bishops for 
England and Wales, the bishops of Gloucester and of Sodor and 
Man being the only two at present who are not appointed a 
seat in the House ; 1 archbishop and 3 bishops for Ireland, 
who sit by sessional rotation. 

The House of Commons, or Lower House of Parliament, is 
representative, that is, it is elected by the votes of the people. 
It has the command of the public purse ; the exclusive right 



INCOME OF THE KINGDOM. 195 

of originating money-bills, and of voting money out of the 
revenue. It is composed at present of 656 members, viz., 145 
English county members, 4 University members, 320 city and 
borough members ; 64 Irish county members, 2 University, 
39 city and borough ; 30 Scotch county members, 23 city and 
borough ; 15 Welsh county members, 14 city and borough. 
Parliaments are septennial, but they generally expire sooner 
by dissolution. 

INCOME OF THE KINGDOM. 

The chief sources of the public revenue are : Customs, Ex- 
cise, Stamps, Land and Assessed Taxes, Property and Income 
Tax, and Post Office. The total Eevenue for the year ending 
June 1863 was 70,683,861/., shewing an increase of a million 
over the previous year. This increase, in the face of the Ame- 
rican war and considerable reductions in taxation, is attributed 
to the free-trade policy which the nation has been steadily 
pursuing of late years. 

The largest item in the public Expenditure is the Interest 
on the National Debt, which debt at the end of March 1863 
was 799,898,000/. The next most important items are the 
cost of Army and Navy, and Civil Services. Nearly a million 
a year is expended on the government of the colonies. The 
estimated expenditure for the year (1863) by the Chancellor 
of the Exchequer is 67,749,000/. The average pressure of 
taxation in England is fifty shillings a head. 

ARMY AND NAVY. 

The standing army of England is less than that of any other 
European nation of equal population, and at the present time 
(1863) numbers 145,450 men. The Crimean war having ex- 
posed the inefficiency of our armed force, and a French inva- 
sion appearing possible in consequence of the application of 
steam navigation to purposes of warfare, a Volunteer Force 
has been organised throughout the kingdom, which now num- 
bers at least 160,000 men. The navy consists of 76,000 men 
and boys. 

O 2 



196 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



COINAGE OF THE REALM. 

Elide, shapless coins of gold, silver, and other metals, have 
been found in various parts of England, and attributed to the 
early British period ; one of these, bearing the name of Sego, 
is supposed to belong to the reign of one of the Kentish kings 
who opposed Caesar. The first coinage in Britain of which 
there is any record was by the Romans at Colchester (Cama- 
lodunum)) and the coins struck were of iron and tin, and of 
different shapes, round, square, or oblong. The earliest figure 
of Britannia is on a Roman copper coin of Antoninus Pius, 
and is in the British Museum. 

It was not until the end of the twelfth century that coins 
became the recognised medium of exchange : before that 
time they were seldom seen, exeejDt in the coffers of the nobles, 
and trade was carried on by the exchange of commodities. It 
was in the twelfth century also that the word sterling began to 
be generally applied throughout Europe to English money, and 
is supposed to have been derived from the Esterlings, a family 
of artists from the north-east of Europe, who were employed 
in the coinage. 

The first gold coins on record were struck by Henry III. in 
1257, and gold coins were regularly introduced by 

Gold Coins. ^ ., ' -, TTT & ^ nn „ ., b n i . , . J 

Edward III., 1337, m the shape of florins, worth six 
shillings. Afterwards gold nobles were struck, worth 6s. Sd., 
which became the usual lawyer's fee. Edward IV. coined 
golden angels, stamped with Michael and the Dragon, the ori- 
ginal of George and the Dragon. Sovereigns and half-sove- 
reigns were introduced by Henry VIII. In 1673 (Charles 
II.'s reign), guineas were first coined of the same size as the 
sovereign, but, being made of the fine African gold from the 
coast of Guinea, were valued at 30s., and afterwards reduced 
to 21s. by Act of Parliament in 1717. Guineas at first bore 
the figure of an elephant, to indicate the African source of the 
metal. 

Groats, or fourpenny pieces, so named after the Dutch groat, 



FACTS OF THE CENSUS. 197 

were the largest silver coins in England till after 1351. 
The shilling was first coined in 1503 ; crowns and Silver 
half-crowns in 1553; the silver florin in 1849; Coins - 
the modern silver fourpence in the reign of William IV. ; and 
the silver threepence in the present reign (of Victoria). Crowns 
and half-crowns are no longer coined. 

Copper, or rather bronze, money is comparatively modern 
in England, and is said to date 1,000 years later than Bronze 
the silver. The need for small change began to be Coins - 
pressingly felt in the time of Elizabeth, but the queen had an 
aversion to copper money, and would only allow small pledges 
for a half penny to be struck in copper. The first extensive 
copper coinage was in James I.'s reign, when copper pieces 
were substituted for the private leaden ones then in use ; and 
halfpence and farthings were first made authorized public 
money in 1672 (Charles II.). Penny and twopenny pieces 
were first coined in the reign of George III. (1797), but the 
twopenny pieces were soon withdrawn. 

FACTS OF THE CENSUS. 

The Census of 1861 is the seventh that has been taken in 
Great Britain, and the fifth in Ireland, the first organised 
census being in 1801, according to the measure of Mr. Pitt. 

Population of the United Kingdom in 1861. 



England and Wales 

Scotland 

Ireland 

Islands in the British Seas 



20,061,725 

3,061,329 

5,792,055 

143,779 

29,058,888 



At home . 
Out of the Country. 
Army, about . . . 137,000" 
Navy . . . . 42,900 \ 275,900 
Merchant seamen . . 96,000 ;, 



;} 



29,334,788 



198 THE BRITISH ISLES. 

These numbers shew an increase of six per cent, in the 
last ten years, or an addition of a million and a half to the 
whole population ; the increase in England and Wales being 
twelve per cent., in Scotland six per cent., and there being 
a decrease in Ireland of twelve per cent, in consequence of 
emigration and the failure of the potato crop, which began 
in 1846. 

The female population outnumbered the male by 573,530 ; 
that is, to every 100 males there were 106 females in the 
British Isles : 105 boys are born to 100 girls, and males 
preponderate until the seventeenth year, and at all subsequent 
ages females are in excess. In metropolitan districts and 
fashionable towns, women preponderate ; in London, for in- 
stance, there are 113 women to 100 men; in Clifton, sixteen 
women to nine men. In agricultural districts, women pre- 
ponderate ; in mining districts, the men. Resident in Great 
Britain, there were 3,500 persons who had been born at sea, 
76,000 born abroad, and 62,000 foreigners by nationality. 

The average density of the population is about 237 to the 
square mile, and if the inhabitants were dispersed equally 
throughout the island, they would stand a little more than 
100 yards apart. The most populous counties are Middlesex, 
Surrey, and Lancashire ; the average density in Middlesex 
being 7,822 to the square mile ; Lancashire, 1,275 ; and 
Surrey, 1,110 ; while Westmoreland is the least populous in 
England, having only eighty to the square mile, and Eadnor 
in Wales has but fifty-nine. 

It was seen, in the sketch of the manufacturing districts, 
that the great manufactures are principally in the north and 
north-west, in the region of the coal-fields. And since, on 
account of the higher rate of wages, the tendency is for labour 
to be constantly drawn to the manufacturing districts, it is 
also found that in that direction the population is the most 
dense, and perpetually on the increase, while in the agricul- 
tural parts it is often stationary, or even on the decrease. 
Thus, the largest actual increase of population during the last 
ten years had been in Lancashire and West Derby, while 



FACTS OF THE CENSUS. 199 

diminution of the rate of increase had been the rule in the 
agricultural counties of Cambridgeshire, Wiltshire, Norfolk, 
and Suffolk. 

Emigration reached its maximum in 1852, when an average 
of 1,000 persons per day left our shores. This drain upon the 
population has been chiefly in Ireland, and, together with the 
potato disease, has cleared the way for progress of late years. 
Pauperism and crime have strikingly diminished, and although 
the population is less, schools for the people have immensely 
increased. Through the working of the Encumbered Estates 
Act, the lands have been transferred to capable owners, who 
have introduced improved methods of agriculture, and the 
barren swamps of Ireland are rapidly giving way to corn- 
fields and pastures, and the potato is being exchanged for 
wheaten bread. 



200 



PART II r. 
POSSESSIONS IN EUEOPE 



The British possessions in Europe have been acquired during 
the Continental wars since the beginning of the last century, 
and consist of the island of Heligoland in the North Sea, and 
of the fortress of Gibraltar 'and the Maltese Islands in the 
Mediterranean. 



CHAPTER I. 

GIBRALTAR. 

Gibraltar was the first acquired of our European dependen- 
cies. It consists of an English-built town, and strongly -forti- 
fied rock. The rock is a bold headland promontory, running 
into the sea nearly due north and south from the coast of 
Spain, and forming almost an island in the Mediterranean, 
being joined to the mainland only by an isthmus of red sand. 
It is chiefly a mass of grey marble or free-stone, which rises 
to the height of 1,600 feet, and is intersected with caves and 
fissures. One of these caves, 1,000 feet above the sea-level, 
forms a spacious hall, supported apparently by pillars of 
stalactite, and in some of the perpendicular fissures human 
bones as well as the bones of animals have been found. On 
the north and east sides, the rock is nearly perpendicular, and 
quite inaccessible ; on the west it slopes to the sea, and on 
the south it terminates in Europa Point, N. latitude 36° 2' 3 /; , 



GIBEALTAE. 201 

W. longitude 50° 15' 12", which is the southernmost point 
of the Continent. The town of Gibraltar is built on the north- 
west side, on a bed of red sand. 

The climate of Gibraltar is more temperate and equable 
than that of most of the adjacent districts; snow is rarely 
seen, and soon disappears, and the refreshing sea-breezes 
temper the summer heat. The average of rainy days is only 
sixty-eight per annum. Although the aspect of the rock from 
the sea is entirely barren, many trees and plants, such as the 
fig, orange, and acacia, flourish upon it, and it abounds not 
only with game and wild rabbits, but the tailless monkeys 
from Africa have chosen the place for their residence, and it 
is the only spot in Europe where the Barbary ape is found. 

The Eock of Gibraltar was the Mons Calpe of the ancients, 
and together with Mount Abyla, the present Ceuta, which 
also projects into the sea from the opposite African coast, 
seemed in remote ages to the dwellers on the east to form a 
vast portal through which the waters of the Mediterranean 
joined the great ocean beyond, and to constitute the extreme 
boundary of the western world. These two rocks were named 
by the Greeks the Pillars of Hercules, the tradition being 
that the two once formed a solid rock which Hercules split 
asunder with his club in order to allow a passage for the sea ; 
and those were bold adventurers, such as the Phoenicians, 
who dared to steer through them, and trust themselves and 
their vessels to the unknown expanse of ocean which lay 
towards the setting sun. 

From its prominent and important position Gibraltar has 
been from the earliest times the scene of attack and assault. 
In the eighth century it was seized by an army of Saracens 
from Africa on their way to dethrone the King of Spain. 
These Saracens built the castle on the rock, the ruins of which 
still remain, and named the place Gibel-Tarif, the Mountain 
of Tarif, in honour of their leader Tarif or Tarek, and this is 
supposed to be the origin of its name. The Moors retained 
possession of Gibraltar until the fourteenth century, when it 
again fell into the hands of the kings of Spain, one of whom, 



202 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. 

Henry IV., King of Castile, gave it in 1462 the arms it still 
bears, viz. a castle with a key hanging to the gate, significant 
of its being the key of the Mediterranean. Under the 
Spaniards the rock was made an almost impregnable fortress ; 
on the western and sloping side, the only one exposed to 
attack, fortifications were constructed of unusual strength, and 
in the bold front of perpendicular rock overlooking the bay, 
galleries were cut with immense labour, two or three miles 
in length, and wide enough for carriages to pass along, with 
port-holes about every twelve yards. 

But although so strong for military defence both by nature 
and art, Gibraltar nevertheless fell before the united attack 
of English and Dutch in 1704. This was during the reign of 
Queen Anne, when England, Austria, and Holland formed a 
coalition to support the claims of the Archduke Charles to the 
crown of Spain in opposition to the reigning King of Spain, 
Philip Y. of Anjou, and his grandfather Louis XIV. of France. 
This was called the ' War of the Succession,' the real purpose 
of which was to avert the danger arising from the Franco- 
Spanish alliance. 

Sir George Eooke, Vice-Admiral of England, and the 
Prince of Hesse Darmstadt, had undertaken to convey the 
Archduke to Lisbon, in expectation that there would be an 
immediate rising of the people in his favour. But they were 
disappointed ; the Archduke was landed, but none of the 
populace seemed inclined to receive him as their king, and 
Eooke, having failed to accomplish the capture of Barcelona, 
was obliged to sail away up the Mediterranean and save him- 
self as he best could from the French squadrons, which fol- 
lowed upon his track. Slipping through them he was joined 
by Sir Cloudesley Shovel with a strong fleet near the Strait of 
Gibraltar, and, finding that Gibraltar was at that moment but 
weakly garrisoned, the two commanders resolved to turn their 
united force against it and carry the rock by a sudden assault. 
Two thousand marines under the Prince Hesse Darmstadt 
were forthwith landed on the narrow isthmus, or neutral 
ground, while, under Admirals Byng and Vanderhussen, the 



GIBRALTAK. 203 

whole fleet was ranged with its broadsides to the rock, pouring 
shot into it at the rate of fifteen thousand every five or six 
hours. 

But the old rock bade them defiance. No attack was pos- 
sible from the isthmus, owing to the steepness of the ascent, 
and the fire from the ships made no impression whatever on 
the fortifications. At last, on August 4, 1704, when the 
attacking squadron had taken up a new station along the New 
and Old Mole, a party of sailors in the bay, rather over-merry 
with grog, rowed their boats close under the New Mole on the 
west side, and seeing that the garrison, which was only about 
100 men strong, took no notice of them, clambered up the mole 
and hoisted the British flag on the top. This signal of pos- 
session was no sooner seen from the fleet than more boats 
were sent out, and crowds of sailors, swinging themselves up 
the steep rocks like the native monkeys, seized the battery, 
and compelled the astonished garrison to surrender, six hours 
only after the commencement of the siege. Prince George of 
Hesse immediately entered Gibraltar in the name of the Arch- 
duke and floated the Austrian banner from the citadel ; but 
by Eooke's orders it was speedily hauled down and replaced 
by the flag of England. The fortress was then occupied by 
British and Dutch troops in the name of Queen Anne, and 
Prince George was appointed the first Governor. 

Having thus once gained this most important station, English 
troops have since held possession of it against the united 
strength of France and Spain. Many attempts have been 
made to wrest it from England, the last and most memorable 
of which was the siege of 1779, when General Eliot, afterwards 
Lord Heathfield, held the place for three years against an 
overwhelming force of Spaniards and French, and finally 
compelled them to beat a retreat in 1782. 

The value of Gibraltar to England arises from its position 
and amazing strength as a fortress. It stands between the 
ports of the Mediterranean and the ports of the Atlantic, and 
the roll of its evening gun, heard both in Africa and Europe, 
is a signal that the British power is present on that great rock 



204 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. 

to protect the shores of both continents. The fortifications are 
maintained in great strength and readiness. The garrison is 
of 5,600 men ; the guns number about 700. ' Wandering/ 
says Captain Sayer,* ' through the geranium-hedged paths on 
the hill-side, or clambering up the rugged cliffs to the east- 
ward, one stumbles unexpectedly upon a gun of the heaviest 
metal lodged in a secluded nook, with its ammunition — round 
shot, canister, and case — piled around it, ready in an instant. 
The shrubs and flowers that grow on the cultivated places, 
and are preserved from injury with so much solicitude, are 
often but the masks of guns which lie crouched beneath, con- 
cealed within the leaves, ready for the port-fire. Everywhere 
all stands ready for attack.' 

Gibraltar is cut off from the mainland of Spain by the 
neutral ground of the isthmus, at the northern extremity 
of which are the ruins of the old Spanish lines, which were 
drawn across the isthmus to prevent the garrison from having 
any intercourse with the country behind them ; this, however, 
has not prevented a great deal of clandestine traffic, and the 
English habitually smuggle into the Spanish border tobacco 
and cotton goods, in defiance of the Spanish officers, who resist 
the practice, even to the extent of sometimes firing upon the 
smugglers. The town is little more than a single street about 
a mile long, one end of which is South Port, and the other 
Water Port. The chief buildings are the Governor's house, 
formerly a convent, the Protestant cathedral, and the Spanish 
church, the Exchange, the naval hospital, the gaol, formerly a 
Moorish castle, and the garrison library ; besides schools, 
chapels, and almshouses, such as are found in most English 
towns. The dwelling-houses are built in the English style, but 
not of the best description as regards neatness, ventilation, &c. 

The population, about 18,000, consists of the garrison, 5,600 
men, and a few English residents ; Spaniards of all sorts, Moors, 
and Genoese ; and Jews especially congregate in Gibraltar, 
since they are not allowed to reside in Spain. Spanish is 

* History of Gibraltar. 



GIBRALTAR. 205 

the common language. The Governor is the military com- 
mander for the time being (salary, 5,000Z.), and Gibraltar has 
a charter by which all criminal cases are decided according to 
the laws of England. It is the only town in Europe in which 
the old custom remains of locking the gates at night. They 
are closed half an hour after sunset, and opened in the morn- 
ing at sunrise. The bishopric of Gibraltar was founded in 
1842, and includes Malta. Bishop's income, 1,200Z. 

Gibraltar is a free jDort with respect to all articles but spirits, 
and the revenue, which about covers the cost of the Civil 
Service of the place, is mainly derived from the sale of public- 
house licenses : a circumstance damaging to the credit of the 
English Government, which thus gains by the intemperance of 
its soldiers. 

Gibraltar is valuable as a depot of British trade. It sends 
but few exports of its own to England, and its own imports 
are chiefly for the supply of the garrison. 



206 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE, 



CHAPTEE II. 

MALTA AND GOZO. 

Malta, the Melita or Melite of the ancients, is an island in 
the Mediterranean, lying 60 miles south-west of the most 
southerly point of Sicily. The British possession comprises a 
small group of islands situated between 35° 43' and 36° 5' 
N. lat., 14° 10' and 14° 35' E. long. ; and which consists of 
Malta, Gozo, and the small isle of Commo, together with the 
two uninhabited islets of Cominotto and Filfola. The whole 
group is composed of limestone rock, which rises at Monte 
Bengemma, in Malta, to a height of 590 feet. Malta is of an 
oval figure, about 15 miles long and 10 broad, and contains 
98 square miles, one-third of which are mostly bare rock and 
uncultivated, while the rest is covered with a thin surface of 
soil, which the fine warm climate and the industry and skill 
of the inhabitants have made exceedingly productive, and two 
crops are often raised in the course of the year. A ridge of rock 
divides the island into two portions ; on the western side is 
chiefly the white bare rock, dotted with villages, and partially 
cultivated, where grow principally the wild thyme and sweet- 
smelling plants which attract the bees that produce the cele- 
brated Maltese honey ; on the eastern side are towns and 
villages, and the valleys where the precious and scanty soil 
has been carefully scraped together from the crevices of the 
rock, and protected by innumerable low stone walls from being 
washed away by the rains. In order to supply this deficiency 
of soil, a law was made, and for a time enforced, that every 
boat from Sicily and elsewhere that took out fruits from Malta 
should bring in a ballast of earth, and carry away a ballast of 
stones. The climate of Malta is healthy, although excessively 
hot in summer. The light reflected from the bare rocks and 
stone walls gives an oppressive glare to the place, unrelieved 



MALTA AND GOZO. 207 

by any forest-trees or hedge-rows, and the absorption of the 
sun's rays by the rocks keeps up the temperature during the 
night. Sometimes in the autumn months, especially in Sep- 
tember, the heat is increased by the sirocco blasts from the 
Mediterranean on the south and east; otherwise no regular 
winds, or even breezes, visit Malta. The winters, from Octo- 
ber to May, are delightfully mild ; snow is never seen, and 
the temperature seldom falls below 46°. So clear is the 
atmosphere, that often at sunset or sunrise the summit of Etna 
can be seen, although distant 128 miles. 

The island slopes from the south to the north, but there are 
no rivers in Malta, and but few springs. The water that 
supplies the island is chiefly rain-water, collected in tanks cut 
in the rocks, and the capital town, Valetta, is supplied by 
means of an immense aqueduct, about eight miles long, made 
by the Knights of Malta, in 1635, which conveys water from 
the springs on the south side. 

Malta has naturally no forest-trees ; but the present 
Governor, Sir Gaspard Le Marchant, has succeeded in intro- 
ducing a few trees, by cutting holes for them in the rocks and 
filling them with soil. Owing to the scarcity of pasture, few 
animals are reared for domestic purposes besides asses and 
goats, and there are no wild animals. Horses are imported, 
and meat is obtained chiefly from Barbary. Barley is cut 
while green, to supply the place of grass for the draught ani- 
mals, and the barley-straw is used instead of hay, and an 
excellent fodder is supplied by the plant called Sulla, known 
to us as the French honeysuckle. Cotton and corn are the 
staple produce. Fruits and vegetables abound ; the Maltese 
orange is superior to all others, and the grapes, figs, and melons 
are especially fine. In the western side of the island there are 
large salt-works, the property of the Government. 

A channel about 4 miles wide, in the middle of which lie 
Comino and Cominotto, separates Malta from the small oval- 
shaped island of Gozo, on the north-west. Gozo is about 10 
miles long and 5 broad, and has an area of 16 square miles. 
It excels Malta in the productiveness of its soil. Game is 



208 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. 

abundant, and goats are remarkable for the quantity of milk 
they yield. As in Malta, fish forms a principal portion of the 
common food, and the cray-fish found on the rocks of Gozo 
are of unusual size. 

The Maltese Islands have passed successively into the pos- 
session of many different races, but it is still uncertain to what 
race the natives themselves belong. They are a healthy, 
handsome, dark-skinned people, with an Arabic dialect, but 
with none of the features of the Arab. The men are robust, 
active, and well formed ; the women graceful, with delicately- 
formed limbs and regular features ; and, as a people, they are 
characterised to a remarkable degree by industry and fru- 
gality. Some writers have attributed to them an African 
origin, since their language, an unwritten one, bears so much 
resemblance to the Arabic that a Maltese has no difficulty in 
making himself understood all along the north coast of Africa ; 
but Diodorus states that the island was first occupied by 
a colony of Phoenicians : it was afterwards held successively 
by Greeks, Carthaginians, Eomans, and Arabs, and it is 
possible that the Saracens, during their long occupation, may 
have introduced the Arabic elements into the language. In 
the twelfth century, the Norman conqueror of Sicily, Count 
Eoger, expelled the Arabs, and united Malta to the Sicilian 
government, during which union the Italian language was 
introduced among the upper classes ; and this continues to be 
the language in common use with the educated, while the 
mother-tongue, the Maltese, is still spoken at Gozo, and by the 
poorer classes in town and country. In 1516, both Sicily and 
the Maltese group came into the possession of Charles V. as 
heir to the crown of Aragon, and in 1530, the Emperor gave 
the entire sovereignty of the islands to the Grand Master and 
religious fraternity of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 
who had been expelled from their seat at Ehodes by the 
Turks; which sovereign right they were to exercise on condi- 
tion of their acknowledgment of Spain and Sicily as their 
protectors, and the payment of the yearly tribute of a falcon to 
the king or viceroy of Sicily. These Knights of St. John were 



MALTA. 209 

a military and religious order, founded in the eleventh century 
at Jerusalem for the sake of protecting and receiving pilgrims 
from Europe who visited the Holy Sepulchre ; the hospice 
being attached to a chapel dedicated to St. John, and at first 
kept by Benedictine monks. After the conquest of Jerusalem 
by the Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon, in 1099, many of 
his followers joined the fraternity at the hospice, and devoted 
their lives to the service of the poor pilgrims, while Godirey 
and other princes endowed the institution with lands and lord- 
ships; and thus the order became one of wealthy knights 
instead of poor monks, and possessed territory in almost every 
part of Europe. The Knights only admitted into their Society 
such as were of noble birth for four descents, both on the father's 
and mother's side, They were pledged to celibacy and per- 
petual war with the infidel, and the costume which the new 
Hospitallers adopted was black, with a white cross on the 
breast having eight points or arms — typical, probably, of the 
eight languages or countries to which the Knights belonged, 
viz. Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, Germany, 
Castile, and England. 

The Knights of St. John found Malta an almost shelterless 
rock, the land uncultivated, and the people a constant prey to 
the pirates on the coast ; but under their rule the place im- 
proved rapidly, and every part of the island, where a landing 
was possible, was strongly fortified. After a successful resist- 
ance against an invasion by the Turkish Sultan, Solyman, in 
1565, the Grand Master, La Yalette, aided by the contributions 
of all Christendom, built the capital city of Yaletta upon a 
tongue of land which projects into the sea, sheltered by a rising 
ground 200 feet high, and rendered it an almost impregnable 
citadel by the most stupendous fortifications. The capital of 
Malta before this time had been Citta Yecchia, or Citta Nota- 
bile, called by the Maltese Medina, built on the highest ground 
and nearly in the centre of the island. In proportion as the 
Knights became secure against the attacks of the infidel, the 
discipline of their order relaxed, and Malta became rather a 
place of recreation and luxury than of religious austerity ; and 

p 



210 POSSESSIONS IN EUKOPE. 

at the close of the last century, the fraternity became still 
further weakened from disunion among themselves consequent 
upon the influence of the agents of the French Republic in 
the island. In 1798, the French portion "of the Knights, fore- 
seeing the decline of their order, and fearing that the island 
might fall into the power of Eussia, connived with a French 
expedition to betray Malta into the hands of Buonaparte. 
Accordingly, General Buonaparte, who was then on his way to 
Egypt, made a pretext for an attack by demanding of the 
Grand Master that his whole fleet should be allowed to enter 
the port of Malta for water ; and on the courteous reply that 
only two or four ships at a time could be admitted, cried out 
with feigned indignation, ' The Grand Master refuses us 
water ! ' and immediately ordered the siege. The French 
Knights treacherously opened the gates of the citadel, 15,000 
troops took possession of Valetta, and in a few hours the 
French were masters of Malta. From this time, the order of 
Knights was extinct; the members either returned to their 
respective countries, or were allowed to remain upon their 
private estates in Malta. But the French rule did not last many 
months. Under the names of liberty and equality, the govern- 
ment at Malta was so odious and despotic that the people 
revolted, and a general insurrection taking place, the garrison 
which Buonaparte had left in charge of the place under 
General Yaubois, soon found themselves closely blockaded 
within Valetta, and the three adjoining cities. The ' wretched 
peasantry,' as Yaubois called the Maltese, managed to keep up 
the blockade for two whole years, but in the end applied for 
aid; to Lord Nelson, who was then on his return from the 
battle of Aboukir, and this being freely granted, and famine 
having reduced the French garrison to the last extremity, 
General Yaubois surrendered to the English in September 
1800 ; the French troops were conveyed back to France in 
English ships, and forthwith the island was transferred to the 
military possession of England. From that time, Malta became 
the head-quarters of the British army in the Mediterranean, 
and before the peace of 1814, while the war closed the conti- 



MALTA. 211 

nental ports to the English, it was the chief seat of commerce 
in the south of Europe. 

There are few scenes of the kind more strikingly beautiful 
than the entrance to the port of Malta. The magnificent 
harbour is surrounded by bastions, over which appear on one 
side the towers of the churches and other stone edifices of the 
city of Valetta, and on the other side the three cities of 
Vittoriosa, Cospicua, and Genglea, which in fact form one 
continuous town extending over the two projections of land 
from the eastern side of the harbour. The old capital, Civita 
Vecchia, is the seat of the Catholic bishop, and contains the 
cathedral. 

Malta is a Crown colony, and the local government is con- 
ducted by a Governor appointed by the Crown at a salary of 
5,000Z. assisted by a council of six also nominated by the 
Crown. The island is mainly supported by raising supplies 
for the garrison and fleet, and for the mail steamers which 
frequently touch at the port. The specimens of Maltese 
manufacture which find their way into foreign markets are 
chiefly lace, carved stone ornaments, and silver filigree. The 
population of Malta and Gozo in 1860 was 136,000, of whom 
about 1,100 were British residents. About 100,000^. a year 
is expended by Government in the military protection of 
Malta and its maintenance as a military depot. 



212 POSSESSIONS IN EUKOPE. 



CHAPTER III. 



HELIGOLAND. 



Heligoland, or Helgoland, now an English naval station, was 
a dependency of Denmark until 1807. It is a small island in 
the German Ocean, about forty miles distant from each of the 
three estuaries of the Eyder, the Elbe, and the Weser, and 
thus, although not visible from either shore, seems to keep 
watch over the coasts of Denmark and Hanover. The name of 
Helgoland or Holy-land it is supposed to have received from 
having been in remote times consecrated to the worship of a 
Saxon divinity, Hertha, or the Earth. The island appears 
to have been formerly larger than it is at present, and the 
process of its destruction by the waves has been well marked. 
In the year 800, the sea apparently began to encroach, and 
by the next 800 years, the island was reduced to little more 
than a rock of red marl. Since 1770, the sea has cut its way 
through the island, dividing it into two parts, Heligoland and 
Sandy Isle ; but now Sandy Isle is almost washed away, and 
Heligoland is fast diminishing, and only consists of a cliff, 
about 190 feet high, and a sandy lowland united to it by a 
rocky isthmus, and is less than 2^- miles in circumference. 
The cliff is ascended by a flight of 180 steps, and upon it 
stand the village, the lighthouse, and the British batteries. 
The inhabitants are descended from the Frieslanders, and 
maintain themselves chiefly by serving as pilots, and catching 
lobsters and haddocks. 

Heligoland fell into the hands of the English in the course 
of the war with Buonaparte. During the wars of the Revo- 
lution, England had regarded Denmark with a jealous eye, 
although that power had observed a strict neutrality, and had 



HELIGOLAND. 213 

insisted on the right of searching its mercantile shipping ; and 
when it was found that the peace of Tilsit in 1807 contained 
secret articles which stipulated for the deliverance of the 
whole Danish navy into the power of Buonaparte, Lord 
Cathcart and Lord Gambier led a formidable force to the 
coast of Zealand, bombarded Copenhagen, and carried off the 
fleet to England ; and in the course of this campaign with 
Denmark, Heligoland was captured by Admiral Eussel. The 
island was useful as a smuggling depot during the war, when 
Buonaparte interfered with the importation of British goods 
into the continent ; but now it is of no commercial and 
scarcely any political importance to England, although its 
maintenance costs the Government nearly 1,000Z. per annum, 
500Z. of which is the Governor's salary, and 50Z. is expended 
on the education of the young Heligolanders. The population 
is about 2,000, but many visitors from the northern countries 
frequent the place for the sake of summer bathing. The 
island is governed by a Lieutenant-Governor appointed by the 
Crown, and its municipal affairs are transacted by local 



214 POSSESSIONS IN EUROPE. 



CHAPTEE IV. 

IONIAN ISLES. 

The Ionian Islands are merely under the protection of Great 
Britain, and are therefore not properly to be classed among 
its dependencies. They form a group lying near the west 
coast of Albania and Greece, consisting of the seven principal 
islands of Cephalonia, Corfu, Zante, Santa Maura, Cerigo, 
Ithaca, and Paxo, with some small islets. They are chiefly com- 
posed of limestone rock, and rise abruptly out of the sea. The 
largest, Cephalonia, has an area of 348 square miles, the 
smallest, Paxo, 26, and the whole group comprises 1,041 square 
miles. The climate in all is healthy and temperate, the 
summer heat being moderated by the north-west sea breezes, 
and only rendered occasionally oppressive by the sirocco. 
The vine flourishes in every island, the olive is the chief 
produce of the northern isles of Corfu and Paxo, and the,.;; 
vine which produces the small grapes known as currants - 
corinths, flourishes chiefly in the southern isles of Cephalonia 
and Zante. No less than 30,250, 8971bs. of these currants 
were produced in these islands in 1860, and they probably 
form the most important article of export. Cotton grows 
chiefly in Cephalonia, and flax in Corfu, and most of the 
islands produce oranges, lemons, melons, figs, and honey. 

The name of Ionia was, according to Herodotus, derived from 
Ion, a leader of the Athenian forces, who thence gave it to a 
Greek tribe which settled in the north of the peninsula. The 
islands have been from an early period a dependency of 
foreign powers. They belonged to Borne until the division of 
the empire in 395 a.d., and then to the Byzantine Emperors 
until the dismemberment of the eastern empire by the Franks 



IONIAN ISLES. 215 

in the twelfth century ; after which they fell into the hands of 
Neapolitan despots or princes, to escape from whose tyranny 
Corfu, the ancient Corcyra, placed itself under the protection 
of Venice, and the whole group subsequently became subject 
to the Venetian Eepublic for the space of 400 years. At the 
overthrow of the Venetian Senate by Buonaparte, the demo- 
cratic party at Venice delivered up Corfu to the French, but 
•n 1799, Corfu was taken by the Eussians and Turks, and in 
the following year the Eepublic of the Seven United Ionian 
Isles was formed under the protection of Eussia. By the 
peace of Tilsit in 1809, the republic was transferred to France, 
but in the course of the war against Buonaparte, the English 
took all the islands excepting Corfu, which also was delivered 
up to them at the peace of Paris, 1814. The islands were 
then restored to their independence, and have since formed a 
republic under the protection of England. 

Since 1850, the G-overnment has consisted of a Lord High 

Commissioner, who is the representative of the British Crown, 

of a senate of six members, and of a local parliament of forty 

members, some of whom are permanent, while the others are 

chosen by free election from the nobles in the different islands. 

Each island has also a municipal council for the regulation of 

, ^ own affairs ; and all elections are conducted by ballot. A 

press was established in 1850. 

The town of Corfu in the island of Corfu, is the capital of 

he republic and the seat of government, and contains the 

alace or rather castle of the Lord High Commissioner, several 

lurches, a university, barracks, and arsenal. The town is 

crongly fortified and surrounded by walls and ramparts, and 

he citadel stands separated from it by a ditch and drawbridge 

on high and precipitous rocks, and forms the most prominent 

3bject of the place. 

The population of the islands in 1860 was 232,426. The 
mdition of the people is said to be much influenced by the 
ifference in the natural products of the islands. Thus in Corfu 
id the northern isles, where the main produce is the olive- 
ree, which requires but little labour or skill in its cultivation, 



216 POSSESSIONS IN EUKOPE. 

agriculture languishes, because the Ionian peasant, not naturally 
provident, trusts to this uncertain support ; but the currant- 
vines require much vigilance to make them profitable, and 
hence in Cephalonia and Zante improvement is more rapid. 

The language of the islands is modern Greek. The religion 
is that of the Greek-Latin church, the Ionian branch of which 
is under the government of an exarch or primate, who is 
chosen from the three bishops of Corfu, Cephalonia, and Santa 
Maura in rotation. 

The revenue from the islands is very fluctuating, since it is 
mainly derived from the export duty on the olive-trade, 
which is uncertain and speculative, and only twice within the 
last twelve years has the revenue exceeded the expenditure. 
The chief articles of export are currants, olives and olive-oil, 
and wine. The soil being less favourable to corn than to 
grape cultivation, corn is largely imported. 

By an agreement of 1850, the Septinsular Eepublic was to 
pay the British Government 25,000Z. a year, from which was 
defrayed the cost of the military establishment for the pro- 
tection of the islands, amounting to about 3,000 British troops. 

In the Queen's Speech at the termination of the session of 
parliament in 1863, it is stated that i steps are being taken 
with a view to the union of the Ionian Islands to the kingdom 
of Greece/ 







~ 



I N I) I \ 



"3 










■ - • IK r 




EL . Nj i 

B t v 
- 



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> FURTHER 
INDIA 

8 i 






t s 1 aads 







217 



PART IV. 
POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 



The British possessions in Asia consist of British India, the 
Eastern Straits Settlements, Ceylon, Labuan, Hong-Kong, and 
Aden. 

With regard to the great mass of our dependencies in 
Asia, English settlement there stands alone in this respect, 
that while in the other great divisions of the earth — in 
America, Africa, and Australasia — we have come into contact 
with races who have either never emerged from the savage 
state, or, as in New Zealand, have become only semi- civilised 
through our influence : in Asia our countrymen have planted 
themselves among tribes who were rulers in a civilised world 
probably before England was peopled at all, or at least was in 
the depths of barbarism, but who, nevertheless, are related to us 
by some identity of origin nearer than that which is common to 
the whole family of man. Here the Caucasian of the north has 
met face to face the Caucasian of the south ; and hence settle- 
ment in Asia has not, in the main, been a displacement or ex- 
termination of original races, as in the countries of inferior 
tribes, but an introduction of English laws, customs, and 
language into lands where organised governments and institu- 
tions already existed, older than any that England can boast. 



CHAPTER I. 

INDIA. 



The Queen of England is in effect the Empress of India. 
From the triple chain of the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, the 



218 INDIA. 

whole gigantic peninsula — with all its ancient cities, its sacred 
shrines, its monuments of the past and venerable traditions, 
its races and dialects more than are yet known, its unrivalled 
scenery and natural wealth — is under her immediate sway or 
influence ; a hundred despotic sceptres are now united in hers, 
and her subjects there, with those under the protection of her 
crown, amount to nearly one-fifth of the whole human race. 
So large a dependency has never before belonged to .any 
nation in the history of the world. British India, in fact, 
bears so large a proportion to India itself, that the history of 
one is all but identical with the history of the whole, and in 
order to understand the nature of our Indian empire, and the 
character and position of our fellow-subjects there, it will be 
necessary to begin by glancing back at the general history of 
the country. 

First, through the dim vista of ages, India is made visible to 
us as a land of wealth and abundance, sought by the earliest 
nations of whom we have any historical record, from much the 
same motives that induced our English navigators to seek it 
about two centuries and a half ago ; that is, for the sake of 
obtaining its spices and balms, its silks, gems, and gold. The 
spices employed by the Egyptians in the embalming of their 
dead, the cinnamon, cassia, and various perfumes described in 
the thirtieth chapter of Exodus as being employed in the 
Hebrew worship, could only have come from India or the 
neighbouring islands, and were most probably obtained by the 
agency, partly of Phoenicians, and partly of the Arab merchants 
or ' Ishmaelites ' alluded to in Genesis xxxvii. 25. The 
town of Ophir (supposed to have been where Malabar now is), 
from which the ships of David brought c gold, silver, ivory, apes, 
and peacocks,' would appear to have been a place that served 
for the emporium of this traffic, which extended to the shores 
of Africa as well as to those of India, and in which it is a 
strong evidence of the Greeks having also had a share, that 
the names in the Greek language for pepper, emerald, muslin, 
cotton, tin, are all words derived from the Sanscrit. 

The aborigines of India were a race totally different from the 



EAKLY HISTOKY. 219 

Hindoos, and are described as low in stature, dark-coloured, 
with high cheek-bones, flattish noses, wide lips, scanty beard, 
long shaggy hair, and without any system of caste or rigid 
forms of worship enjoining abstinence from animal food and 
intoxicating drinks ; and, in fact, so alien to the Hindoo that 
their descendants, now scattered over various parts of India 
under the names of Ghonds, Bheels, Domes, &c, are regarded 
as impure races, and are allowed no residence in the Hindoo 
cities. 

It is the received opinion that this people were conquered, 
enslaved, and driven southwards by the Hindoos, a fine olive- 
complexioned race from Central Asia, who bore, nevertheless, 
more affinity to the European than the Asiatic type. But the 
Hindoos themselves deny this foreign and northern origin, 
and hold that their ' Holy Land,' that is, Hindostan Proper — 
the country lying between the Himalaya and the Vindhya 
Mountains — has been theirs from time immemorial. From 
the c Institutes of Menu,' regarded by the Hindoos as their 
most ancient and sacred books next to the Yedas, it appears 
that in the ninth century B.C. the Hindoos had not passed 
southward into the peninsula of India below the twenty-second 
parallel, and that, at a period when the history of our own 
island is lost in utter darkness, they had made a marvellous 
progress in civilisation and even in refinement. Astronomy, 
chemistry and metallurgy, architecture, sculpture, music and 
medicine were far advanced ; inoculation for the small-pox 
and couching for cataract were practised, the country was 
traversed by roads marked by milestones, and there are traces 
in the code of Menu of an efficient existing system of police, 
and even of bills of exchange and life insurance.* As the 
centuries approach the Christian era, a more vivid light is 
thrown upon this singular race from foreign quarters, and in 
the same way that we are indebted to Julius Caesar and the 
Eoman historians for the earliest account of our own country, 
so Europeans have been indebted for their first information 

* Martin's British India. 



220 INDIA. 

respecting India to Alexander the Great and the Greek 
historians. 

Passing over the little-authenticated account of invasions of 
India by Semiramis, Sesostris, Hercules, and Cyrus, we come 
to an attempt at conquest by Darius Hystaspes, in the year 
521 B.C., which resulted in the formation of part of the north 
of India into a Persian satrapy. But it was the famous expe- 
dition of Alexander the Great, in 326 B.C., which first opens to 
us an acquaintance with the country itself. The object of 
Alexander appears to have been as much that of extending 
knowledge as of dominion. His army was accompanied by 
an appointed historian ; his generals were instructed to use 
every means of obtaining local information; and Alexander 
himself sought out with eagerness the Brahmin sages, with the 
rumour of whose philosophy his own education had made him 
aware. His success fell far short of his desires, because what 
he had actually accomplished served to shew him the immense 
fields of knowledge and wealth which lay beyond his reach. 
He completed the conquest of the whole of the Punjaub, finding 
the country as much weakened then as it has been in our own 
day by the dissensions among the multitudes of native princes ; 
and then discovering that there was an immeasurable tract of 
land before the boundary of the ocean could be reached, he 
passionately besought his soldiers to push onwards, and, 
' adding the rest of Asia to their empire, to descend the 
Ganges, and sail round Africa to the Pillars of Hercules,' 
according to the geographical notion of the period. But the 
well- disciplined armies of the Hindoos, with their war-chariots 
and thousands of elephants, so scared the Macedonian phalanxes, 
that the conqueror failed in his appeal, and was obliged to 
limit himself to the tracing of the course of the Indus down to 
the sea, and thence, leaving a number of fortified colonies . 
behind him, to effect his return by way of the Persian Gulf, 
embarking a portion of his troops for the sake of exploring the 
coast by sea as well as by land. Unfortunately, the works of j 
the Macedonian historian are lost, and of all the colonisations 
established by Alexander, little remained after his own death; 



TRADE WITH ROME. 221 

and the only lasting result of his expedition was that the 
road to India was thus once for all opened to the western 
world. 

It was probably about this period that the classic name of 
India was applied to all those countries through which the 
Indus flowed. The name of Hindostan is supposed to have 
been derived later from the same source, Indus, and sta?i, 
country ; or else to have been given by the Persians from 
Hindoo, swarthy, and stan, country, because the natives were 
a shade darker than themselves. 

Alexander's successor, Seleucus, to whose share India fell 
in the division of the empire, made another expedition in the 
year 303, in which he penetrated farther to the east, and after- 
wards sent as his ambassador to the king of the Prasii, the 
Grecian writer Megasthenes, who has preserved for posterity 
the fruits of a long residence in the country. The only imme- 
diate result of these expeditions, however, was the large 
increase of the commerce with India ; and this was immensely 
assisted when, in the first century a.d., there came to be made 
the discovery of the monsoons by Hippalus, by means of which 
the Alexandrian merchants were henceforth able duly to 
regulate their passage from the Eed Sea to the western coast 
of India. The Romans, now becoming masters of Alexandria, 
entered extensively into the same traffic ; and at a time when 
the ancestors of the present rulers of India were dyeing their 
skins with woad in lieu of garments, or transferring the woolly 
clothing of the sheep to their own shoulders in a primitive 
state, the Hindoos were manufacturing gold and silver 
brocades that adorned the courts of Imperial Rome, weaving 
the Cashmere shawls which enchanted the Roman dames for 
their lightness and beauty — as they do now our English ladies 
— producing the muslins of Dacca, compared to ' woven wind,' 
from the translucence of their tissue, and providing for the 
ancient civilised world unrivalled porcelain, spices and scents, 
pearls and diamonds. It was for the sake of these luxuries, 
and not for conquest, that Roman ships touched upon the shores 
of Malabar; and, according to Pliny, 50,000,000 sesterces, or 



222 INDIA. 

about 400,000Z., were drained out of the empire every year for 
the purchase of Indian commodities. 

From the glimpses we are able to gain into the interior con- 
dition of India, it would appear that the period just preceding 
the Alexandrian invasion was that in which the glory of the 
native dominion was at its highest. But although the Hindoos 
had possessed the country sufficiently long for the ripening of 
a national character and national institutions of a most marked 
peculiarity, it is evident that the result of this venerable 
civilisation was not political strength, from the easiness with 
which, both then and afterwards, they became the prey of 
every successive invading force that was brought to bear upon 
them. Nevertheless, there had come out from the Holy Land 
of the Hindoos a conquering power which is most important 
to be estimated in judging of the weight of India among the 
nations of the world ; and that was, an indigenous religion 
which has ended by diffusing itself among a larger number of 
adherents than any other form of religion in existence. 

Buddhism took its rise out of Brahminism in the sixth cen- 
tury before Christ ; and by the merely peaceful zeal of its mis- 
sionaries and its own native strength, such as it was, spread 
itself first into the neighbouring island of Ceylon, 307 B.C. ; 
then into China, about 65 a.d. ; into Cashmere and Nepaul ; 
into Thibet, 407 a.d. ; into Java and Farther India ; and 
lastly, into the northern shores of even Europe itself: taking 
in all these places so firm a root that there seems little doubt 
of its having been a form of worship naturally congenial to 
nations of Mongolian race. 

In Hindostan itself, it would seem that while Buddhism was 
in its first prime, it had the power of effecting even something 
of that political condensation in which the country was defi- 
cient. For while the Greek Megasthenes tells us that he 
found there no less than 118 independent states, we are told 
by native authorities that the illustrious Buddhist, Asoka, who 
played the part of a Constantine in forming the religion he had 
adopted into the state-worship of the country (250 B.C.), had 



THE MOGUL EMPIRE. 223 

by means of it, in the hyperbolic language of their poets, 
brought together ' the whole earth under one umbrella.' 

Buddhism, however, took no lasting hold upon its native 
soil. Having given it forth to conquer the western half of 
Asia, Hindostan itself was to become the subject of another 
religious propagandism of a species far more vigorous than its 
own. The warlike successors of Mahomet rushed with the 
fire and sword of their prophet down upon the sacred ground 
of the Hindoos, just in that eleventh century which also wit- 
nessed the current of Christian fanaticism directed upon the 
Holy Land of Syria in the first Crusade. Sultan Mahmoud, 
the ruler of the small state of Ghuznee, in the Suliman moun- 
tains, after twelve murderous expeditions, captured the ancient 
town of Delu, or Delhi, and other chief cities, destroying the 
temples and breaking the idols ; and carried off to his capital of 
Ghuznee the famous sandal-wood gates from the temple of 
Somnauth in Guzerat, which eight centuries afterwards were 
restored to their old position at the entrance of the temple by 
Lord Ellenborough. But the Hindoo faith was too deeply 
rooted for conversion to follow so directly upon conquest as 
was generally the case with Mohammedan invasions, and the 
Hindoos returned to their temples, and preserved their old 
institutions even while the new dynasty was gradually extending 
itself over the empire. First, the Punjaub, from its vicinity to 
Ghuznee, was placed under Mohammedan rule, and the capital, 
Lahore, became the seat of government ; then, one by one, the 
Hindoo principalities fell, with the exception of a few which 
still preserved their independence, until, in 1193, the ' Holy 
Land ' was finally conquered, and Mohammed II. became the 
first king of Delhi, and founder of the Moslem empire in 
India. 

But the empire was for a long series of years disturbed by 
other Tartar invasions. About 1211 a.d., the Mongol chief, 
Genghis Khan, ravaged the frontiers of Sinde and Mooltan. 
An Afghan dynasty succeeded in 1289, and one of its princes 
conquered the chief part of the Deccan. Timur the Tartar, 
or Tamerlane, took possession of the Punjaub in 1397, and 



224 INDIA. 

made a wholesale plunder and massacre of the city of Delhi ; 
and in 1526, one of his descendants, Baber, founded the last 
and most brilliant Tartar monarchy in India, called the Mogul 
Empire ; which was rather erroneously so called, since Baber, 
although a successor of the great Mogul chief, was himself of 
immediate Turkish descent. Under Akbar, the most illustrious 
sovereign of the Mogul dynasty, or of any other in India, the 
Mohammedan dominion was first strengthened into peaceful 
organisation, and began to extend firmly over the Deccan, the 
subjugation of which was nearly completed by Aurungzebe, 
about 1670 ; and the reign of Akbar, which lasted fifty years, 
is the most notable to ourselves, because with it opens the era 
of our own connection with the country. The letter which 
Queen Elizabeth sent by Leedes and his fellow-adventurers to 
the Emperor Akbar, about the year 1593, was the beginning 
of English intercourse with India ; and since with the establish- 
ment of the East India Company in 1600, the history of 
British India begins, the remainder of this historical sketch 
of the country will be given under that section. 



225 



CHAPTER n. 



NATURAL FEATURES OF INDIA. 



The richness of the productions of India is at once ac- 
counted for when we consider its natural position _ 

1 Character 

and conformation. The country lies between 8 of the 
and 35° N. lat. and consequently the southern half 
is within the torrid zone. Its northern boundary, the Hima- 
laya mountains, forms the culminating portion of the series 
of parallel chains which He across the whole middle of Asia, 
spanning it east and west, and constituting a succession of 
ridges, with high intervening plains of table-land. 

The Kinchinjunga, or highest point of the Himalayas 
(Abode of Snow), is 28,176 feet above the level of the sea, and 
even the valleys between the mountain ridges are for the 
greater part of the year covered with snow. From this lofty 
range, 1,500 miles in length, the land descends southward in 
one magnificent sweep facing the sun, until it sinks into an 
enormous valley which drains the multitude of waters flowing 
down its sides into the one broad stream of the Ganges. 
Another portion of its liquid collection has, however, been 
diverted at the outset towards the west, and chiefly distributed 
into the five great rivers which give the name of Punjaub to 
the land they comprise, and which, restrained by the bor- 
dering mountains of Cabul, unite themselves under the name 
of the Indus ; from the mouth of which to that of the Ganges, 
is a distance of about 1,500 miles. 

To the east of the mouth of the Indus lies, first, a great 
sandy desert in the provinces of Sinde and Bajpootana ; 
beyond this, again, rise the mountain ridges of Aravalli, sepa- 
rating the water-courses of the tributary streams, and which, 
as they bend west and east across the peninsula from the Gult 

Q 



226 INDIA. 

of Cambay to Bengal under the name of the Vindhya moun- 
tains, afford a secondary chain to the continent, rising in the 
manner of a broadbacked wall of table-land, to the height of 
2,200 feet. Steep below this wall lies the river Nerbudda, 
flowing westward into the Gulf of Cambay. And beyond the 
valley of the Nerbudda succeeds, first, an inferior range of 
mountains, and the valley of the river Tapty, and then a 
series of plateaus of table-land, bounded by the converging 
chains of transverse mountains named the Eastern and 
Western Ghauts ; which, as they meet at the southern end of 
the peninsula in the Nilgherry mountains, again rise into a 
plateau of the height of 7,364 feet, and are crowned with snow, 
notwithstanding their vicinity to the equator. Beyond the 
Nilgherries is a declivity known as the Gap of Coimbatore, 
through which the monsoons make themselves a path from 
one shore to another ; and thence rises the final point of 
Cape Comorin at the distance of nearly 2,000 miles from the 
northern extremity of the Himalayas. 

In accordance with similar distributions of land in more 
perfectly examined countries, it appears that the central mass 
upheaved to the highest point in the Himalayan chain, consists 
of the granite which lies the deepest in the known structure of 
the earth ; while the lower ranges to the south of it consist of 
strata higher in order. Thus, the mountains in the centre of 
India are of the metamorphic character, in which occur the de- 
posits of precious metals ; and the diamonds, rubies, 

Minerals. . . -, 

cornelians, and other gems of India were known from 
the earliest times, as well as the pearls that abounded in the 
Indian Ocean. Many districts are similar in formation to the 
gold regions of California. Quartz -reefs have been found at 
Dharwar, which are said to promise a gold return equal to 
that of Australia ; and on the Malabar coast alluvial gold- 
dust has lately been discovered in the streams. Silver, tin, 
copper, and lead are also found, but far more important is the 
wealth of iron and coal which recent diggings and cuttings for 
railway operations have done much towards bringing to light. 
At the base of the Himalaya, an iron region extends for 



CLIMATE AND VEGETATION. 227 

60 miles ; at Dechowree and Hurdwar there are deposits of 
ore from 50 to 100 feet deep ; and near Kundrelah, 7,000 
feet above the sea-level, there is a tract 200 square miles in 
extent, in which a dark fine iron, superior to that of Glasgow 
and Merthyr Tydvil, lies in veins throughout the mica- 
schist, and can be readily obtained by merely washing away 
the schist by a stream of water. 

With regard to coal, it is expected that the supply will 
in time prove equal to the needs of the country, although in 
1860 the quantity yielded was only 370,000 tons, being about 
a two-hundredth part of the yield of the United Kingdom. 
An ample supply of water-power and timber, added to this 
prospect of coal and iron, promise well for the introduction of 
all kinds of machinery into the manufactures of India ; but it 
is in the rich fertility of its soil, and the abundance of 
valuable vegetable and animal products, that the wealth of 
India chiefly consists, and its commercial importance is always 
likely to depend more on its exports of raw materials than on 
its manufactures. 

In a country of such vast extent and irregular surface, 
temperature and soil and other conditions vary greatly, and 
consequently the nature of the productions. In the high 
northern regions the climate is temperate ; but in the central 
and southern the heat is very great, and, generally speaking, 
there are three distinct seasons : the hot and dry season, from 
March to June ; the rainy season, coming in with the south- 
west monsoon, from June to September ; and the temperate 
season, from September to the end of February. The weather 
is delightful on the table-lands in autumn and winter, and 
throughout the whole country, the mornings and evenings in 
spring-time are pleasant. The rain- fall and temperature vary 
greatly at different altitudes in the mountains, and „ 

/v. n Vegetation. 

are affected on the coasts by the two monsoons, from 
the north-east and south-west. Rain seldom falls on the higher 
regions of the Himalayas ; but, even at an elevation of 12,000 
feet, a soil of exceeding richness is formed by the alluvial 
deposits from the northern mountain ridges, mixed with 

q2 



228 INDIA. 

decayed vegetable matter, in which not only flourish magni- 
ficent forests of the Deodar and other pines, but also our own 
little English meadow flowers, the primrose, cowslip, anemone, 
and sweet violet ; besides gooseberries, raspberries, straw- 
berries, asparagus, celery and rhubarb, and other products of 
our gardens. 

The Ehododendron tribes are so abundant in these high 
lands, that they have been named the Eegion of Khododendra. 
In the plains of Cashmere at the foot of these mountains, 
flourish in luxuriance the roses from which the Hindoos 
extract the ' attar ; ' and indeed, the roses of India, with their 
exquisite perfume, seem to have monopolised more than their 
share of sweetness, since most of the other flowers, especially 
in the sultry lowlands, are destitute of scent. 

On the slopes of the Himalayas abound wheat and all the 
European grains, and in the north-west provinces wheat is 
largely consumed by the common people. In Assam, and 
mostly on the hill-sides and valleys of the region between 
29° and 30° N. lat., tea is cultivated. In the great swamps at 
the mouth of the Ganges and other rivers, and all along the 
coasts that are liable to inundation, rice-fields abound ; and 
the plant is cultivated more or less wherever there is sufficient 
water-supply, and even on the declivities of the northern 
hills where the descending streams aflbrd facilities for watering 
the fields. In the Deccan, where rice is less grown, the 
peasantry subsist chiefly on a small poor grain called raggi. 
The Indian silk, which is so much prized in Europe for its 
superior strength, is produced upon the highlands ; the low- 
lands being too hot for rearing the worms. Indigo is chiefly 
cultivated in the north-west provinces and Bengal ; poppies, 
for the sake of their opium, chiefly in Berar and Benares. 
Tobacco grows all the country over, and also the bamboo-cane, 
with which the Hindoo peasant builds his hut. Of fruits, 
apples and pears abound in the northern districts, and oranges, 
grapes, pine-apples, and lemons, everywhere ; and descending 
southward, the pines and oaks of the north give place to the 
palms and mangoes and banyans and other rich fruit-bearing 



COTTON FIELDS. 229 

trees of the tropics. Sandal- wood is the special produce of 
the Western Ghauts, and the middle of this range is occupied 
by forests of teak. 

But vegetation is the most luxuriant in the hot regions 
still lower south, where the fruit-trees of England are fre- 
quently seen covered with blossoms and fruits in all stages at 
the same time, and where the vegetable mould of Mysore, 
100 feet in depth, is a more inexhaustible source of wealth 
than the mines of Golconda in the same district. On the 
Malabar coast, cocoa-palms cover immense tracts of land, and 
in these southern districts abound coffee, the sugar-cane, and 
all the spices. 

One of the most curious geographical features of India is 
the rich black soil, especially favourable to the growth of 
cotton, which covers all the great plains of the 
Deccan. This soil varies in depth from 2 to 30 feet, 
and is of such amazing fertility, that, without manuring, it is 
said to have yielded abundant crops in succession of cotton, 
wheat, and other grain, for two or three thousand years. India 
is probably the birth-place of cotton. The first mention of 
the plant in history is by Herodotus, who calls it * a wool- 
bearing tree of India.' From the earliest times the people 
clothed in cotton, and now, besides using it for clothing, 
they employ it for the manufacture of those articles for which 
hemp and flax are used in England, such as ropes, sails, table- 
cloths, and bedding. The best cotton is grown in the Doab, 
or the tract between the Ganges and the Jumna, but the 
most extensive cotton districts are those of Nagpore and 
Berar in Central India. No sooner had the news reached 
India of the supply of American cotton being likely to cease, 
than an English resident at Nagpore resolved to try the 
extent to which cotton could be produced in these districts. 
He bought a field in which the cotton plants were just break- 
ing through the earth, and while his neighbours left their 
plants to grow of themselves, he had his carefully weeded and 
watered, the soil well loosened about the roots to enable the 
stems to expand, and the ends of the branches nipped off to 



230 INDIA. 

encourage the growth of lateral shoots. The first year his 
produce was treble that of his neighbours' fields, and the 
staple far stronger. From the seeds of his plants he selected 
the most promising, and the cotton produced from these the 
second year equalled the best New Orleans. In Bombay the 
cotton fields lie on the coast, or just inland of the Ghauts, 
and at Dharwar the late experiments have been made of 
introducing the cultivation of New Orleans cotton into India ; 
but it has hitherto been found that better cotton is produced 
in India by carefully tending the indigenous plants than by 
importing New Orleans seed. 

In 1859 the Secretary of State for India made an attempt 
to introduce a new and most valuable product into 
India. The Cinchona forests of South America, 
which have hitherto supplied the world with Peruvian bark 
and quinine, are now nearly exhausted in consequence of the 
enormous demand for this invaluable medicine ; and now, 
through the agency of Mr. Markham, there are flourishing 
cinchona plantations in the Nilgherry Hills, Darjeeling, and 
Ceylon, which it is trusted may yield a sufficient produce by 
the time that the supply fails in America. 

Together with so luxuriant a vegetation, animal life 
flourishes to its utmost extent in India, and the 
thick woods, forests, and jungles are the homes of 
myriads of wild tribes — elephants, rhinoceroses, bufFalos, 
bears, tigers, leopards, panthers, jackals, hyaenas, wolves, por- 
cupines, deer, and monkeys. The lion is comparatively rare^ 
and is found chiefly in Guzerat and Eajpootana ; but the 
tiger is the great pest of Bengal, and makes its home especially 
in the hot swamps of the Sunderbunds, where it is a serious 
impediment to the improvement of the district. Crocodiles, 
too, infest the dividing channels of the Delta of the Ganges. 
Monkeys and apes without number live in the woods of 
Bengal, and occasionally leave their retreats to pay a visit to 
the villages, where they enjoy the privileges of being held 
sacred animals by the Hindoos, and are always fed and received 
with attention and respect. The sacred Brahminy bull roams 



animals: rivebs. 231 

the country with impunity, and is everywhere greeted with 
reverence. BufTalos graze in immense herds on the banks of 
the Indus, or they may be seen luxuriously wallowing in the 
mud with their heads only above water. The buffalo is 
domesticated for its milk, which makes better ghee or clarified 
butter than the milk of the cow. In most other places 
common cattle abound. The diminutive sheep is bred for its 
excellent wool, and in some districts for its flesh ; but as the 
Hindoos do not eat meat, a single cow or sheep is often not 
killed in their villages for many centuries, and a man who 
whips or treats his cattle brutally is outcasted by his neighbours, 
and, as a worst term of reproach, is called a koshie, or butcher. 

The horse is used comparatively little as a draught animal 
in India. Dromedaries, asses, and oxen are the common 
beasts of burden, and elephants and camels were the 
chief means of land conveyance among the wealthier classes 
before the period of railways ; even sheep were used until 
lately as beasts of burthen for carrying the manufactured 
goods of Cashmere over the high mountain passes of the 
north. In Cashmere and the plains at the foot of the Hima- 
layas, called the Shawl Plateaux, are the breed of goats whose 
fine hair has been, for centuries before our era, woven into 
the many-hued shawls of Cashmere, and of which about 
80,000 are annually manufactured at the present time. 

Of birds, 450 species have been classified in India, of every 
variety of plumage, and game is plentiful everywhere. While 
England has only 12 species of reptiles, India has 179. The 
waters teem with fish ; and alligators, otters, and badgers are 
the most common among the amphibious tribes. 

RIVERS OF INDIA. 

India has the reputation of being the best watered land on 
the face of the earth, and nowhere are traffic and agriculture 
better aided by large navigable rivers. No less than fifty 
great rivers discharge their waters into the ocean, and tribu- 
taries branch from many of these, which are themselves 



232 INDIA. 

important streams. The chief rivers are : the Indus, Ganges, 
and Brahmapootra ; and the Irawaddy in Farther India. 

The Indus (Nilab or Blue river) runs 1,800 miles from its 
source in the Himalayas, to its outlet at Kurrachee in the 
Arabian Sea, and waters with its tributaries a region in the 
north-east, estimated at 400,000 square miles. It is navigable 
for steamers for about 1,000 miles, from Kurrachee to Attock 
on the north frontier. 

The Ganges rises in the highest elevation of the Himalayas 
in the Gurhwal territory. It runs eastward 1,500 miles, joins 
the Jumna at Allahabad, and drains the great valley of the 
Ganges, estimated at 500,000 square miles. It is . navigable 
for nearly 1,000 miles from Calcutta. The enormous volume 
and rush of its waters towards their outlet in the Bay of 
Bengal, are said to carry away daily from the soil of India 
and deliver into the sea as much solid substance as is con- 
tained in the Great Pyramid of Egypt. 

Ten miles above Eajmahal, where the river begins to turn 
southward, the great Delta of the Ganges begins, by the 
branching out of arms which enclose and spread over a large 
triangular district — called delta from the form of the Greek 
letter. One of these channels, the Hooghly river, on which 
Calcutta stands, is 160 miles in length ; and the immense 
deposit of earth left by the stream at the mouth of the river is 
formed by these dividing channels into marshy islands called 
Sunderbunds. What the Ganges loses in volume by its dis- 
persion into these many streams is made up by fresh supplies 
from the Himalayas and from the Brahmapootra. 

The Brahmapootea (son of Brahma) rises in Thibet, but its 
exact source is uncertain. It is a prodigious stream, skirting 
the Himalayas on the northern side for about a thousand miles, 
under the name of the Sanpoo ; then winding round the base of 
the mountains at the eastern end of the range, and rushing 
through a gorge into Assam, where it receives the contents of 
sixty rivers, and flows 900 miles to the Bay of Bengal, where 
its channels mingle with those of the Ganges. It is navigable 
for steam-boats for several hundred miles. 



LAKES AND TANKS. 233 

The Irawaddy is the great stream which waters Burmah. 
It rises in the heights of the Langtan mountains, which 
divide Burmah from Assam, and runs southward for 1,000 
miles, past Ava and through Pegu, until it enters the Bay of 
Bengal at Eangoon ; sweeping off from the soil of Burmah in 
its course downwards an average of sixty- two cubic feet of 
earth in every second. The river divides into- many channels 
at its mouth. The chief of them, the Bassein, is navigable for 
60 miles for vessels of the largest size, and steamboats can 
ply along the Irawaddy for some hundred miles. 

On the east coast of the Indian peninsula, below the Ganges, 
there are eighteen large rivers running eastwards from the 
Malabar Ghauts into the Bay of Bengal, and draining the 
country south of the Nerbudda. The chief of these are the 
Byeturnee, 340 miles ; Brahminy, 400 ; Mahanuddy, 520 ; 
Godavery, 830 ; Kistna, 800 ; North Pennar, 350 ; South 
Pennar, 240 ; Cauvery, 470. On the western side about 
twenty rivers flow into the Indian Ocean ; but, excepting the 
Nerbudda, 800 miles, and the Tapty, 400, few are of any 
magnitude. 

India has very few lakes, and these are chiefly confined to 
the basin of the Indus. But there are some remark- 
able inlets of the sea; for instance, the Eunn of 
Cutch, a long flat tract of 6,000 square miles, which, when 
covered with water, changes Cutch into an island, and in the 
dry season becomes a barren sandy desert, dotted with small 
salt lakes. 

In speaking of the water supply of India, mention must be 
made of the Tanks, which throughout the whole 

Taiiks. 

country are so many national benefactions, bestowed 
from time to time upon the people by the native rulers, at an 
enormous expense. These tanks are to be met with near 
every town, village, and high-road. Some of them cover a 
space of more than two acres, and the water, supplied by the 
periodical rains, is often 25 to 30 feet deep, and is descended 
to by a flight of stone steps. All of these reservoirs are well 
stored with fish, which prevent the water stagnating. 



234 INDIA. 

India is deficient in good harbours. Bombay is the only one 
fitted for a first- class fleet. The entrance of the 
' Hooghly, leading to Calcutta, is too much obstructed 
by shoals and sand-banks for the passage of large merchant 
vessels ; but there are upwards of forty small or barred har- 
bours round the coasts, suitable for coasting traffic. Goa is 
a fine port, but this belongs to the Portuguese, and the Man- 
chester Cotton Agency have fixed upon Seedashevaghur, a 
little farther south, and near Dharwar and the cotton fields of 
the Deccan, as the future haven and depot of the cotton trade. 



235 



CHAPTER III. 

INHABITANTS OF INDIA: LANGUAGES, RELIGION, AND LITERATURE. 

There are many persons who have a vague idea of India as a 
vast country, partly peopled by Europeans, and partly by the 
native Hindoos — a handsome, dark, and bearded race, who 
speak a language derived from the Sanscrit, and whose history 
and traditions count back to very remote ages. * But English- 
men should understand,' said Sir Henry Lawrence, in one of 
his essays, ' that between the Hindoo of Tanjore, Mysore, 
Bengal, Oude, and Kajpootana, there is quite as much differ- 
ence in language, customs, forms, and features, as obtains 
between Russians, Germans, French, Spaniards, and English- 
men.' 

The Hindoos proper constitute about three-fourths of the 
native population. Those of the purest type are, 
generally speaking, of moderate height, olive com- 
plexion, slender and agile figure, with well-proportioned head, 
delicate hands and feet, bright eyes and aquiline nose, and with 
some affinity to the Arab in face and form. They are domestic 
in their habits, although polygamists ; hospitable to strangers, 
and charitable to the poor. They are considered to bear a 
resemblance to the ancient Greeks in their contempt of death, 
their allegiance to individual chiefs rather than to any forms 
of government, their sublime and mythical creeds and degrad- 
ing worship, their taste for music and the arts, for eloquence 
and poetry. They are unrivalled in the skill of working in 
gold and precious stones, and in some species of textile fabrics; 
but, as one of their own writers says of them, c their knowledge 
of art, science, and civilisation is not progressive but limited ; 
they feel satisfied to live, move, and die within the boundaries 
of their own acquirements, and hardly desire to add to or vary 



236 INDIA. 

from the prescribed institutions of their forefathers.' As a coun- 
terbalance to this torpidity, they possess remarkable genius in 
imitating almost everything put before them, provided their 
caste and religion do not interfere. 

The Hindoos are divided by their law into four castes : the 
Brahmins, or sacerdotal ; the Kshatriya, or military ; the 
Vaisya, or industrial ; and the Soodra, or servile. Since inter- 
marriage between the higher and lower castes is forbidden, the 
offspring of all such marriages, which in spite of the law are 
very frequent, are adjudged outcast, or pariah ; and this over- 
increasing multitude of pariahs, excluded from all social 
privileges, are forced to seek occupations of the lowest sort, 
and can never rise above the most degraded condition. 

Differences in food and climate have produced remarkable 
diversities in the Hindoo type ; for instance, the indolent 
Hindoo of the low sultry plains of Bengal is quite distinct from 
the native of the cooler heights of the Deccan ; and the Hindoos 
of the north-west provinces, who feed on wheat and pulse and 
some kinds of animal food, and live in elevated and dry 
regions, are a far stronger, braver, and more independent people 
than the rice-eaters of the lowlands. Besides which, there 
are Hindoo tribes who have become distinct races under 
special conditions. Such, for instance, are the Seiks 

Sikhs . 

or Sikhs, numbering now about 2,000,000, who had 
their origin as a peaceful religious Hindoo sect, founded by 
one Nanuk, in the fifteenth century. Driven from their ori- 
ginal seat at Lahore, they took refuge in the mountains, and, 
strengthened by persecution, became a military community 
under their tenth spiritual leader, Guru Govind, who seems to 
have liberalised their religion and institutions, by abolishing 
caste, and placing all converts upon an equality. He endea- 
voured to blend the doctrines of Brahminism with those of 
the Koran, by making the unity of God the foundation of the 
new creed, which was expounded in the writings called 
\ Grunths.' He allowed the use of animal food and spirituous 
liquors, forbidding only the slaughter of oxen. All converts 
were pledged to fight for the cause, to wear blue clothes, to carry 



INHABITANTS. 237 

arms constantly in some shape, and never to shave a hair of 
their bodies. 

These Sikhs became a scourge to the Mohammedans in the 
Punjaub. They destroyed their temples and towns, and under 
one of their chiefs, Evmjeet Sing, aided by European officers, 
established themselves as a powerful military nation on the 
banks of the Sutlej ; until, as we have seen, their dominions in 
the Punjaub were finally annexed to the British Crown. 

The Mohammedans bear but a small proportion to the Hin- 
doos — about one to six — and number, it is believed, Moham . 
from twelve to fifteen millions. The Asiatic Moham- medans. 
medans, chiefly Afghans, who entered India by land, settled 
for the most part in the plains of the Indus and the Ganges ; 
but a large portion of their so-called descendants are really of 
Hindoo origin, since it was the custom of the Mohammedans, 
in time of need, to strengthen themselves by purchasing native 
children, and educating them in their own creed. In addition 
to these more recent settlements, there is a considerable Mus- 
sulman population remaining from the colonisation of Arabs on 
the Malabar coast in the times of the primitive commerce. 
With respect to the native converts to Islam, there is only one 
province in Hindostan where the Mohammedans outnumber 
the Hindoos. This is Sinde ; where the natives held with 
little tenacity to their own faith, and were easily converted by 
force or otherwise. Naturally there has been much blending 
of habits and customs among the two races where the rigid 
principles of their faith have not kept them apart. Even in 
the days of Akbar, the Mussulmans were beginning to adopt 
Hindoo usages, and the Hindoo would sometimes wear the tur- 
ban, and plant a garden round his bamboo dwelling, after the 
fashion of his Moslem neighbours.* 

The west coast is largely populated by an important mer- 
cantile class, the Parsees, who are perhaps the 
wealthiest and most highly- educated people in India. 
They are descended from Persian fire- worshippers, who were 

* Martineau's British Bide in India. 



238 INDIA. 

driven from their native country by the Mussulmans, and took 
refuge at Surat and the neighbourhood. Like the Mussul- 
mans, the Parsees mostly abound in the towns ; and their 
business reputation is so great that the people say that wherever 
a Parsee shopkeeper settles himself, there is sure to spring up 
a profitable trade in the district. The first Indian baronet, 
Sir Jamsetjee Jeegeeboye, was a Parsee merchant. The Par- 
sees are a handsomer race than the Hindoos, and although they 
wear the Asiatic costume, adapt themselves more readily than 
other eastern races to European customs. 

Next to be mentioned are the Hill Tribes, supposed to 
Hm number about twenty millions, many of whom seem 

Tribes. indubitably and purely to represent the real abori- 
gines — the old Turanian race who peopled India before the 
coming of the Hindoos, and who are now dispersed among the 
mountain districts. Thus in the Nilgherry and Ghauts moun- 
tains are still found a number of small wild tribes, existing 
chiefly in the tract of country extending east between the 
river Godavery and the plain of the Ganges, and in the heights 
which enclose the valleys of the Tapty and Nerbudda. The 
most widely dispersed of these tribes are the Gonds, who 
occupy nearly the whole of the mountainous central region 
between the Circars on the one side and the Tapty on the other, 
named after them, the Gondwarra. They are in a very low 
state of civilisation compared to the Hindoos, and live in a 
manner isolated from the different governments of the countries 
they inhabit, and rarely permit the entrance of foreigners 
within their bounds. Infanticide prevails among them ; and 
it is one of their oldest customs to propitiate their evil deities 
by human sacrifices, in order to ward off disease and procure 
abundant harvests. These sacrifices are unusually cruel, and 
one invariable part of them consists in sprinkling the fields 
with the blood, and in tearing the flesh of the victim, dead or 
alive, into shreds, of which each chief appropriates one to hang 
up or bury as a charm. 

The British Government has done much to suppress this 
usage ; and it is singular how amenable to reason these savages 



INHABITANTS. 239 

have been found, and how ready to abandon a long-cherished 
custom when it is plainly proved to them that scarcity and dis- 
ease do not follow upon its discontinuance. General Campbell * 
was so successful among the Gonds, or Khonds, of Orissa, that 
between 1837 and 1854, more than 1,500 mariahs, or pre- 
pared victims, were voluntarily given up. The chiefs readily 
took the oath to obey the i Great Government,' when they 
found that General Campbell neither ' stole their fowls nor 
injured their fences ; ' and seated on tiger-skins, and holding 
in their hands a little earth, rice, and water, they swore as 
follows : ' May the earth refuse its produce, rice choke me, 
water drown me, and tiger devour me and my children, if I 
ever break the oath which I now take for myself and my people 
to abstain for ever from the sacrifice of human beings ! ' But 
being puzzled how to excuse themselves to the goddess, one of 
the chiefs suggested the propriety of adding the following 
formula : l Do not be angry with us, O Qopldess ! for giving 
you the blood of beasts instead of human blood, but vent your 
wrath on this gentleman (General Campbell), who is well able 
to bear it.' Many of the rescued victims were sent to the 
missionary schools, or settled among the peasants in the 
villages ; but it is curious that although the Gond chiefs reli- 
giously kept their oath, and even besought the English to 
keep away the mariahs from them, lest the sight of them 
should tempt them to relapse, the English authorities had 
great difficulty in preventing many of the victims themselves 
from escaping to the hills to be sacrificed ; one of them saying, 
f It is better to be sacrificed as a mariah among my own people, 
and give them pleasure, than live on the plains.' 

Of similar character to the Gonds, though less independent 
and more intermixed with the Hindoos, are the Bhils, who 
occupy the northern Ghauts and the Vindhya range. But the 
best known to Europeans is the tribe of Coolies, inhabiting the 
Western Ghauts in the neighbourhood of Bombay, and who 

* Narrative of Major- General John Campbell, C.B. of his Operations 
in the Hill Tracts of Orissa for the Suppression of Human Sacrifices 
and Infanticide. 



240 INDIA. 

are so habitually employed there as labourers, that labourers 
throughout Hindostan are commonly called by the name of 
Coolies. The aboriginal Coolies are a brave and hardy race, 
professing Brahminism, but not abstaining from flesh or 
spirituous liquors. 

Many other wild tribes, such as the Katties, the Bhats, the 
Koombies, and the Hughs, belong to this aboriginal class, 
most of them entirely disconnected in language and religion 
from the Hindoos by whom they are surrounded, and some of 
them so degraded as to be scarcely human. They give much 
trouble to the English Government in consequence of their 
lawless, predatory habits, and the extreme danger there often 
is in interfering with their prejudices and practices. 

Among the hill tribes may perhaps be classed the powerful 
nation of the Mahrattas, who form the bulk of the population 
in the Bombay Presidency, and whose position in India has 
been a far more important one than that of any other of the 
wild races. The origin of the Mahrattas is obscure. 
The first mention known of them was in the Eastern 
Chronicles of 1306 a.d., where they were spoken of as a con- 
quered hill people inhabiting the district of Mherut or Mharat, 
formerly part of the sovereignty of the Deccan, and from 
which they probably derived their name. 

In the seventeenth century, in the reign of Aurungzebe, 
the Mahrattas became an organised people under Sevajee, a 
Hindoo chieftain in the service of the King of Bejapore, who 
granted Sevajee a district in the Carnatic with the command of 
a troop of 10,000 horse. With this force Sevajee seized upon 
the zemindary of Poonah on the west coast, which afterwards 
became the Mahratta seat of empire and residence of their 
peshwas or governors. Succeeding chiefs took advantage of 
the nature of the country around them, which abounded in 
defiles and mountains, to make sudden onslaughts and 
plundering incursions into the neighbouring districts, and by 
this means acquired so much wealth, power, and territory, that 
they became a most formidable foe or important ally to 
the Europeans, and especially a scourge to the Mohammedans, 



INHABITANTS. 241 

against whom they cherished an inherited animosity. Their 
empire lasted until 1819, when the last of the peishwas, Bajee 
Kao, was defeated by the English under Lord Hastings, and 
renounced his sovereignty in return for a pension of 80,000Z. a 
year, and the greater part of the Poonah territory passed into 
the possession of the English. 

An obelisk, with an inscription in Mahratta and English, 
commemorates this overthrow, and the Peishwa's palace, a 
large mass of building divided into courts, is now the Eecord 
Office. Many of the Mahratta sirdars, or nobles, have similar 
houses in Poonah, which they use on special occasions, living 
otherwise on their estates in distant provinces. The Mahratta 
valleys consist of groups of clay-terraced houses, generally 
surrounded by a mud wall with gates and bastions. 

Slaves are very numerous in India, especially among the 
wild hill tribes. A proclamation was issued in 

. i . . Slaves. 

1853 for their protection, forbidding the traffic, and 
declaring the children of slaves to be henceforth free born. 
But it is believed this measure has been unavailing, and in 
Bengal the number of slaves is estimated at 4,000,000, and 
they exist largely at Madras, although all those on Govern- 
ment lands have been set free. 

The Thugs, or secret murderers of India (from Hindustani, 
fhagua, to deceive), are a set of worshippers of the 
Hindoo goddess Kali. Their origin is uncertain as 
to date, but India has certainly been infested by their bands 
for more than a thousand years, and the society is composed 
of men from all castes and religions, who have joined together 
to maintain themselves by plunder, and to propitiate the 
goddess Kali by human sacrifices without the shedding of 
blood. The Thugs themselves claim great antiquity, and 
maintain that their worship is represented in the caves of 
Ellora. Their practice has uniformly been to strangle their 
victims and to share the plunder ; the immense jungles giving 
every facility for burying the bodies in secrecy, and the 
natural apathy of the Hindoos preventing much outcry 
or search on the part of relatives. The Thugs generally 

R 



242 INDIA. 

assume the appearance of merchants, and so win the confi- 
dence of travellers, and when they have beguiled a solitary 
victim to some convenient spot, the Bhuttotes, or stranglers, 
arrange themselves with rope or handkerchief ready, while 
the Lughaees, or gravediggers, dig the hole, and at a given 
signal the noose is cast so suddenly round the victim's neck 
that he is incapable of resistance. The body is then thrown 
into the hole, large incisions are made in it to prevent it 
swelling, and the grave, when hTled up, is covered with bushes 
to avoid discovery. After every murder a sacrifice is offered 
to Kali of a consecrated pickaxe, a piece of silver, and some 
coarse sugar, while the stranglers sit in a row on a clean sheet 
laid on the ground, and eat sugar in solemn silence. The 
English Government first took measures for the suppression of 
the Thugs in 1810 ; Lord William Bentinck carried on their 
extermination vigorously in 1882 ; and now a special agency 
is established in the Punjaub for their destruction. Thirty 
Thugs were seized in 1860, and their numbers are rapidly 
diminishing. 

LANGUAGES OF INDIA. 

The languages spoken in India are as various as the tribes 
of people, and, indeed, form our best method of distinguishing 
the latter. The dialects, which amount to above thirty in num- 
ber, may, in fact, all be classed under the large division of those 
which are derived from the Sanscrit — the ancient language of 
the Hindoos — and those which are not. The languages spoken 
in the Deccan, including even the barbarous speech of the 
mountaineers, have all been ascertained to bear a fundamental 
resemblance to the general type of Mongolian or Turanian 
languages, notwithstanding the large admixture of Sanscrit 
and other foreign words which has taken place with regard to 
the more civilised districts. This mixture is very apparent in 
the Telinga dialect, spoken on the Coromandel coast, in Hy- 
derabad, and the eastern part of the Mysore, and the softest 
and most polished of all the languages of Southern India. 
Nearly akin are the Canara, the Tulu, and the Malayalim 



LANGUAGES. 243 

dialects, spoken on the Carnatic and Malabar coasts ; while 
the Tamil, which is spoken in the entire south- 
eastern portion of the peninsula, and is considered 
to afford the foundation for all the other dialects, is the one 
farthest removed of all from the Sanscrit. 

Spreading also over the northern part of Ceylon, Tamil is 
the language of above 7,000,000 people. It has a considerable 
literature of its own, with treatises on grammar, history, 
medicine, and moral and didactic poems, dating back to very 
ancient times, and a college for its cultivation established by 
native princes at Madura. 

Of the languages derived from the Sanscrit, viz. the Ben- 
galee, the Assamese, the Orissan, the Guzerati, the Mahratee, 
and many others, the one most familiar to us is the Hindus- 
Hindustani : being the one which is adopted by the taui - 
British Government as the general means of communication 
with the natives. It is also employed by the Mahometans in 
every part of India, and was apparently originally constructed by 
the Mussulman invaders as a kind of camp language, into which 
were introduced a large number of words from the Persian 
and Arabic. The Arabic character is used by the Mahomet- 
ans in the writing of it, although the Hindoos themselves 
generally write it in an alphabet of their own.* The Hindus- 
tani is still so near in resemblance to the original tongue, 

* The multiplicity of different alphabets employed in India appears 
to be a greater obstacle to communication than the different dialects 
themselves, and therefore Professor Max Midler, in his efforts to establish 
an universal Missionary Alphabet, has suggested the great desirableness 
of the British Government constantly aiming to promote the general 
use of the English character in writing, and that only. It would be im~ 
possible to induce authoritatively the natives of a country like India to 
change their language, but they might easily be led to see the advantage 
of educating their youth to the uniform use of English letters, instead of 
there being perpetuated, as at present, the use of six different alphabets 
for the Tamulian dialects in the Deccan, and for as many distinct and 
mutually unintelligible corruptions of the Sanscrit alphabet as there are 
Sanscritic dialects in the northern provinces. 

e2 



244 INDIA. 

that it is said by Prof. M. Muller, ' an officer who goes 
out to India with a knowledge of Sanscrit knows more of 
Hindustani than a cadet who has learned Hindustani in this 
country, but is ignorant of Sanscrit. 7 

The Sanscrit, or language of the sacred writings of the 
Hindoos, is never now employed as a living tongue 
in actual use, except occasionally by the Brahmins. 
In very ancient times the sacred language itself was fixed into 
a classical form and confined to religious purposes, while the 
vernacular, or Prakrit, dialects, derived from it in ordinary 
use, have degenerated, in course of time, farther and farther 
apart from it and from one another ; the most ancient of these 
dialects, the Pali, or religious language of the Buddhists, 
having again become a fixed and dead language in its turn, 
although originally employed by the Buddhists as a means of 
popularising their preaching. 

The fixed character of the venerable Sanscrit is of the 
utmost interest in the history of the world, not only for the 
stamp of early antiquity which it conveys to us, but yet more 
from its revealing to us in the most authentic manner the 
relationship which we ourselves bear to the Hindoo race. By 
means of the resemblance in primitive grammatical forms, it is 
now ascertained that the Teutonic, Celtic, and Slavonic races 
of Europe, together with the classical Greek and Latin, are of 
the same stock as the Hindoos and Persians of Asia ; altoge- 
ther constituting the great Indo-European family of nations, 
whose languages are classed under the common name of 
Aryan (as distinguished from the two other classes, the 
Semitic and the Turanian). l What authority,' says Prof. 
Miiller, ' could have been strong enough to persuade the 
Grecian army that their gods and their hero ancestors were the 
same as those of King Porus, or to convince the English 
soldier that the same blood was running in his veins as in 
the veins of the dark Bengalese ? And yet there is not an 
English jury now-a-days which, after examining the hoary 
documents of language, would reject the claim of a common 
descent and a legitimate relationship between Hindoo, Greek, 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 245 

and Teuton.' This relationship, he explains, is such as makes 
the Sanscrit stand in the p]ace, not of a parent, but rather of 
an elder sister to the other tongues, although from its 
antiquity it necessarily bears more of the primitive character 
than any of the rest. So much light was thrown upon the 
history of language in general, when Sanscrit first began to 
be systematically studied by Sir William Jones and others r 
that its introduction to European acquaintance has been called 
i the discovery of a new world.' Not only was there given by 
it the strongest interest to the study of language, but the 
thought of students was turned upon an entirely new track, 
by finding the unexpected relationship which was proved by 
the meeting again, on this strange and distant soil, with their 
own most ancient and familiar words. It has been noticed 
that ' the terms for God, for house, for father, mother, son, 
daughter, for dog and cow, for heart and tears, for axe and 
tree, are identical in all the Indo-European idioms.' 

RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 

The Sanscrit literature is rich in every department of 
human culture, but the basis of the whole is the Sacred 
Yedas, regarded by the Hindoos themselves in the light of a 
Divine revelation. The first and most important of these 
books, the Kia;-Veda, is the earliest of all writings 

& _ / . ., . 1 , & The Yedas. 

extant amongst the Aryan nations, dating back, ap- 
parently, as far as 1500 B.C. ; and it exhibits a religion of the 
purest natural kind, such as might belong to a thoughtful 
people of simple and probably pastoral habits, striving to 
penetrate the hidden meaning of the mighty forces of Nature 
around them. The collection of hymns (or mantras), of which 
this book consists, display, indeed, the worship of the different 
elements ; — as of Agni, or fire, Indra, the atmosphere or fir- 
mament, Varuna, water, and many others ; but beneath these 
material forms there is manifestly recognised the existence of 
the One incomprehensible Being, to discover whom is the 
great aim of human thought. The continuation of the life 



246 INDIA. 

of the soul after death is dimly surmised, but as yet without 
any intimation of the doctrine of transmigration afterwards 
devised respecting it ; and in general (if we except the doubt- 
ful allusion to human sacrifices), there is the utmost freedom 
from all the burdensome superstition of ceremonial observ- 
ances which were heaped up around the religion when once 
the era of Brahminism commenced with the institution of a 
Brahmin- formal priesthood, about the tenth century B.C. ; 
ism. anc [ w hich since that time have continually multi- 

plied, until there is notoriously no nation on earth so entirely 
crushed under the power of the priests as the Hindoos. The 
three later Yeclas, which are commentaries upon the first, 
shew the manner in which these corruptions were prepared, 
by the kind of discussions raised, and of ceremonies devised, 
in supposed explanation of the original mysteries. 

In the Rig- Veda is promulgated the highly metaphysical 
conception, that in the beginning, the One Being, or Universal 
Self, ' was alone. He said — May I be many ! — and then sprang 
the world into existence.' In later times, the idea was dwelt 
upon, and wrought out into coarser and coarser images, until 
there came to be built up the whole mass of Indian mythology. 
From the dismemberment of the Divine Whole into parts, was 
supposed to proceed, first, the different elements personified 
into distinct deities; thence the different kinds of creatures 
adapted to the several elements ; and eminently, as the last 
result, the division of human beings so important in its 
effect upon the Hindoo social life, namely, that of caste. From 
the head of Brahm, it is said, proceeded the Brahmins, or 
Svstem of P r i ests • from his arms, the Ksha+riyas, or military 
Caste. class ; from his thighs, the Yaisyas, or agricultur- 
ists ; from his feet, the contemned Sudras, restricted to servile 
occupations. 

Accordingly, again, as the Deity is regarded in his relation 
towards men, of severally their Creator, Preserver, or De- 
stroyer, is he named Brahma, Vishnu, or Siva. To each of 
this divine triad became assigned peculiar attributes, sym- 
bolized by the wildest grotesqueness of form under which 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 247 

their images could be presented to the idolatry of the people ; 
and each member of the triad has a mythological history of his 
own, representing, in the manner of supposed incarnations, 
notable events in the course of human affairs, which the priests 
and poets chose in this manner to record for the instruction of 
posterity. Thus, in the two great epic poems, the Eamayana 
and the Mahabharata, are supposed to be painted the original 
conquest of the Aryan tribes over the aboriginal barbarians 
(figured in the former as apes), while the conquerors are as- 
sisted, in the one poem by an incarnation under the name of 
Vishnu or Kama, in the other by Krishna. 

The number of deities in this manner came to be increased, 
in the course of a few centuries, to such an extent, 

, , ,. . , , . . Buddhism. 

and the amount 01 ceremonial worship required tor 
each of them multiplied to such an intolerable degree, that in 
the sixth century b. c. was started that great reaction against 
Brahminism known as Buddhism, the object of which was 
boldly to sweep away the whole accumulation of superstition, 
and place the mind of man in firm reliance upon its own moral 
strength, and upon that alone. All along, the Brahmins had ad- 
mitted the freest discussion of theological matters amongst them- 
selves; the Buddhist Reformer (Sakya-mouni, or Gotama,) 
determined to make the freedom popular. He called upon the 
people to shake off, not only the entire impositions of the 
priests, but the entire belief in the deities upheld by the 
priests. He banished utterly the artificial notion of caste, 
and asserted the equality and brotherhood of all men. The 
principle of fear, whether of gods or men, which is the real 
nourish er of all superstition, he set himself to attack at its 
foundation in the heart of man. Instead of spending his 
powers in the attempt to placate the angry deities, or to win a 
reward by bribes, he counselled men to subdue within them- 
selves their principles of fear and hope, and thus by extinction 
attain their exemption. By merely dying, the Brahmins had 
taught, they would pass into new bodies, to undergo the 
retribution destined for them, before they should be fit to 
return into the Divine essence, whence they sprung ; by self- 



248 INDIA. 

extinction, the Buddhists proclaimed, they might immediately- 
pass into the Divine non-existence. And self- extinction was 
only obtainable through the exercise of all the moral virtues, 
opposed in their nature to self-indulgence. With this view, 
the Buddhists practised self-denial to themselves, and charity 
towards others, to a fanatical extent. Buddha himself, it is 
said, offered his own flesh to feed the hungry cubs of a tigress. 
His followers, or such of them as aspired to perfection, were 
enjoined to clothe themselves in rags, to live only upon alms, 
to refrain almost entirely from natural rest. The doctrine 
spread widely as soon as it was uttered, but, as was inevitable, 
speedily degenerated from all that was excellent in its beginning. 
The asceticism disfigured the morality, the bold antagonism to 
superstition became a new superstition in its turn ; and the 
relics of the founder, who had denied all gods to worship, were 
erected into the most debasing kind of idols themselves, en- 
shrined in temples, and maintained by priest-ridden homage. 

In India, Brahminism once more succeeded in regaining its 
sway, continually becoming more and more degraded as it has 
gone on spreading its requisitions into all the minutest trans- 
actions of daily life, so that at the present time the Hindoo 
groans under the tyranny of a ceremonial which embraces 
every moment from his birth till his death. The priest alone 
can tell him what food may properly be eaten, what air may 
properly be breathed, what dress may properly be worn ; 
which of all the multitude of gods is to be invoked at each 
particular occasion, and with what sacrifice propitiated ; while 
' the slightest mistake of pronunciation, the slightest neglect 
about clarified butter, or the length of the ladle with which it 
is to be offered,' is supposed capable of bringing ' destruction 
on the head of the unassisted worshipper.' And yet, all along, 
there have been philosophic-minded Brahmins, who have 
carried on their researches for natural truth with a freedom and 
moral purpose quite distinct from the ordinary superstition ; 
and under the truly great sovereign Akbar, this spirit was 
encouraged to such an extent, that there was even a deliberate 
effort made to promulgate a new religion that should be free 



RELIGION AND LITERATURE. 249 

from every kind of superstition. Although brought up him- 
self as a Mahometan, Akbar had entirely discarded the faith 
of the prophet, and had given himself up to the discovery of 
truth. ' He called Brahmins and fire-worshippers to his 
court, and ordered them to discuss in his presence the merits 
of their religions with the Mohammedan doctors. When he 
heard of the Jesuits at Goa, he invited them to his capital, 
and he was for many years looked upon as a secret convert to 
Christianity. The religion which he founded, the so-called 
Ilahi religion, was pure deism mixed up with the worship of 
the sun, as the purest and highest emblem of the Deity. '* He 
had the New Testament translated into Persian ; and endea- 
voured to extort from the Brahmins a translation of their 
Yedas, although, as appears, without success. 

* Miiller, p. 143. 



250 



CHAPTER IV. 

ENGLISH DOMINION IN INDIA. 

The history of British India may be said to date from the year 
1600, when the East India Company received its charter from 
Queen Elizabeth. By the beginning of the next century, the 
' Merchant Adventurers ' had gained a firm footing in India; 
but all they had of territory were three trading settlements on 
the seaboard, viz. Bombay on the west, and Fort St. George 
and Fort William on the east. But from these small centres 
branched forth a dominion which in little more than another 
hundred years had spread over nearly the whole of the vast 
continent. In the introductory sketch were shown the 
several stages of this growth, and it remains here to give a 
more general survey of the causes which converted in so short 
a time an eastern continent into an English empire. 

The Mogul empire had reached the height of its greatness 
during the long reign of Aurungzebe ; but at his death, in 
1707, the empire may be said to have ended. The whole 
State fell into disunion, and the provinces either became 
appropriated by their hereditary local rulers, or fell a prey 
to conquering tribes, and the Court of Delhi from henceforth 
retained only a nominal supremacy. 

Chief of these conquering tribes were the Mahrattas, a war- 
like race of freebooters, who, more intent on booty than 
glory, swooped down like birds of prey upon the rich plains 
under Moslem rule, and fired the villages and devastated the 
fields from the Carnatic to Guzerat. These people had formed 
themselves into a powerful State in Southern India, under 
their chief, Sevajee ; while the Persians, under Nadir Shah, 
ravaged Hindostan from the north, and for a time reigned in 
Delhi. 

.Naturally, the European settlers became involved in the 



SEPOYS. 251 

disturbances of the empire. In 1745, war was declared 
between England and France, and hostilities then _ 

o ' ^ Supremacy- 

first broke out between the French and English com- on the East 

panies in the Madras Presidency ; and although, in 
1748, the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle restored tranquillity at 
home, these rivals in India were plunging deeper into warfare 
from having taken opposite sides in the contest of native 
princes for the sovereignty of the Carnatic. A struggle for 
supremacy followed, which ended by the English becoming the 
dominant military as well as commercial power in India ; and 
also, as a consequence of the growth of the English power in 
the East, by the transference of the seat of empire from the 
Mohammedan centre of Delhi, in the north-west Provinces, 
to the English centre of Calcutta, on the east coast. 

No sooner had the East India Company, under Clive, begun 
its military career in India, than the want of soldiers 
was felt. The troops sent out from home were at 
first but few, and inefficient in that new climate and country ; 
hence the English adopted the expedient of the French, who 
at their head-quarters at Pondicherry trained native soldiers, 
or Sepoys, after the European fashion. These Sepoys were 
first accoutred after the manner of their country, clad in tur- 
ban, vest, and drawers, and armed with bows and arrows ; but 
soon they were trained to the use of the musket, and placed 
under English drill and command, and having proved their 
courage and fidelity, became the chief safeguards of the British 
forts. But naturally this dependence of the English on the 
troops of a country in which they were intruders became a 
source of the greatest anxiety and insecurity. At the siege of 
Arcot, 1751, the Sepoys first exhibited their valour and devo- 
tion as British auxiliaries, and many of their officers subse- 
quently became distinguished heroes in the English service ; 
but it depended much on the tact of their British commanders 
to keep down mutinies, and want of judgment in trifles often 
led to serious tumults. It will be seen how, a century later, 
this want of tact was one of the causes which spread the flames 
of war over the whole continent, 



252 BRITISH INDIA. 

In 1773, the English Government first began to take a direct 
Home Oo- P art m tne management of Indian affairs. This was 
vernment. { n consequence of the Company being in a most em- 
barrassed state as to finances, and an appeal to Parliament to 
save them from bankruptcy gave rise to the Regulation Act, 
by which a Governor-General was appointed to preside over 
Bengal, and, to a certain degree, over Madras and Bombay ; 
while the affairs of the Company in London were administered 
by a Court of Directors and Proprietors. 

The first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, strengthened 
by his vigorous policy the position of the Company in India, 
and satisfied the constant demand of the Directors for 6 remit- 
tances ; ' but the means by which he attained both these ends 
laid him open to impeachment in the House of Commons : 
hence his celebrated trial, which lasted seven years, and ended 
in acquittal ; and hence also, in 1784, Mr. Pitt judged it 
necessary to add a Board of Control to the Court of Directors, 
as a further check upon the East India Company. This 
■ Double Government,' as it was called, lasted until the mutiny 
and convulsion of India, in 1857, led to the dissolution of the 
Company altogether. 

At the beginning of the present century, Indian affairs were 
_ .. in a critical state. Under the Marquis of Wellesley, 

Dominion . . * ■ 

in the conquest had made rapid strides, and by the fall of 

Seringapatam, in 1799, English dominion was ex- 
tended over the south of India. But the wild Mahrattas were 
spreading over the north and west, either threatening our pos- 
sessions in alliance with the French, or involving the English 
in their mutual quarrels ; while in the north, beyond the 
Indus, attack was threatened by the Shah of Persia in conniv- 
ance with Buonaparte and the Emperor Alexander of Russia. 
For the protection of our frontiers, and to introduce British 
rule into those States which were as yet independent, Lord 
Subsidiary Wellesley devised his famous Subsidiary System, 
System. which was a system of permanent treaties with the 
petty States of India, by which England pledged herself to 
supply a military force to each, and to control all State affairs 



SUBSIDIARY SYSTEM. 253 

through a Resident, while the State, thus assisted, bore the 
expense both of the Eesident Governor and the military. 

For the sake of gaining an opportunity of checking the 
Mahrattas and their French allies, who together _ . . 

7 ° Dominion 

formed the most formidable foe that British troops in Central 
had ever encountered out of Europe, Lord Wellesley, 
in 1803, espoused the cause of the Peishwa of Poonah, the 
head of the Mahratta nation, who had been deposed by the 
rival chiefs, Holcar and Scindiah, in alliance with the French. 
And hereupon followed the Mahratta war ; and, by one of the 
most brilliant campaigns that modern history affords, the 
English were freed, once for ail, from their double foe, and 
gained dominion over the whole of Central India. 

The campaign was planned by Lord Wellesley and his 
brother, the Duke of Wellington (then General 
Wellesley), and carried out by four British armies, ^hratta 
who attacked the enemy from all sides. General 
Wellesley commanded the forces of the Deccan, and by the 
victory of Assaye (a small village in Berar), September 23, 
1803, overcame the combined armies of Scindiah and the 
Eajah of Berar. Lord Lake led the Bengal army into Hin- 
dostan Proper, and by the battle of Laswaree, November 1, 
reinstated on the throne of Delhi the Mogul Emperor, Shah 
Aulum, who had been captured by Scindiah, and thus won to 
our allegiance the whole of the Mohammedan power in India ; 
at the same time that by the submission of the French com- 
mander, M. Perron, the French influence in India was annihi- 
lated. Colonel Murray crushed the Mahratta power in 
Guzerat on the west ; and Colonel Harcourt opened free com- 
munication between Calcutta and the two south presidencies 
by the conquest of Cuttack on the east. And thus, in five 
months, England not only gained immensely in territory, but 
extended protection to numerous states, which, released from 
Mahratta tyranny, gratefully placed themselves under the 
subsidiary system of the conquering ruler ; and by the final 
overthrow of the Mahrattas, in 1816, by the conquest of 
Poonah, our position was determined as sovereigns in Central 



254 BKITISH INDIA. 

India, and many of the small states under British protection 
became subsequently annexed, either as a forfeit for mis- 
government, or non-fulfilment of conditions. 

While the East India Company was thus gaining strength 
as a political power, it had ceased to exist as a Mer- 

lractG to . . b 

India ciiant Corporation. Owing to the exertions of Mr. 

opene . William Eathbone and other influential persons in 

our chief manufacturing districts, the Company was deprived 

of its monopoly in 1814, and henceforth the trade to India 

was open to all British merchants. 

A time of peace succeeded to the Mahratta war ; and if the 
name of the Wellesleys stands foremost among conquerors, the 
name of Lord William Bentinck is conspicuous among those 
who have made English dominion a blessing to India. 
EefOTinL -^ e abolished the Suttee, or widow-burning — a 
custom, Avhich, although for ages it had been grafted 
on to the Hindoo faith, was probably a remnant of the darker 
superstitions of the aborigines. In 1829, he issued a regula- 
tion declaring the Suttee illegal, and punishable in criminal 
courts ; and first in Bengal, and then in the other presiden- 
cies, the j>ractice was put down by the police without difficulty. 
He carried on vigorously the extermination of the Thugs, or 
secret stranglers. He reinstated natives in public offices, 
from which the selfish policy of the English had excluded 
them. He encouraged native as well as English schools ; and 
during his time the excellent Bishop Heber did much to 
create a bond of sympathy between the Hindoo and Christian 
mind. 

While peace and internal reforms marked this period in the 

peninsula, a Burmese war was raging with the King 

War! 1656 °f Ava, which ended in the acquisition of provinces 

beyond the Bay of Bengal. 
And now in 1839 began a series of events in the extreme 
north, which led not only to a vast extension of territory in 
that direction, but also to a complete revolution in Indian 
affairs. 

Hitherto the river Sutlej had bounded our territory in the 



AFGHAN WAR. 255 

north-west : we had friendly alliances with princes beyond it, 
but no dominion. But in that direction danger had long 
threatened us. Situated in the north-west corner of Hin- 
dostan, on the borders of Persia, is the mountainous country 
of the Afghans, a people whose origin has been the subject of 
much discussion. Although the Afghans compose only about 
a third of the dwellers in Afghanistan, they are the ruling 
nation there. They are a hardy race, of moderate stature, 
with high cheek-bones and prominent noses. They call them- 
selves Pustaneh, and their language, which they name Pushtoo, 
is composed of words partly Persian and partly derived from 
some unknown root, and is written in Arabic letters. Their 
religion is a liberal kind of Mohammedanism, and they re- 
semble the Arabs of the desert in many of their habits, such 
as their hospitality to strangers, and robbery of travellers. The 
state of Cabul, which forms the north-eastern portion of 
Afghanistan, was governed by Ameers, who were on friendly 
terms with the English, until an impolitic interference in 
their affairs on the part of the Calcutta government led to 
the Afghan war — the most ruinous campaign the English have 
known in India. 

The causes of the war were briefly these: — The Shah of 
Persia, aided by Eussian officers, laid siege to the 
fortress of Herat, which was regarded as the key ^fj lan 
to Afghanistan. In the spirit of an old Eastern 
proverb, that ' he who rules in Hindostan must first be lord 
of Cabul,' this movement excited great apprehension in the 
Calcutta government, and Dost Mahomet, the ruler of Cabul, 
was ordered to form no connection with Russia. His reply 
was unsatisfactory, and Lord Auckland, in concert with 
Runjeet Sing, sovereign of the Sikhs, immediately pro- 
ceeded to depose him, and to instal an exiled ruler, Shah 
Soojah, in his place. But the Afghans violently opposed 
this change of rulers, and a large English and native army 
had to be stationed at Cabul to maintain Shah Soojah on 
his throne. Then came the difficulty how to maintain 
this army ? The East India directors had been no party to 



256 BEITISH INDIA. 

the affair, and the British Envoy, Sir William Macnaghten, 
knew that they would object to pay upwards of a million per 
annum for its support. He therefore tried to lessen expense 
by withdrawing from the allowances of some of the Khiljis, or 
native guard of the passes. This measure still more in- 
flamed the public feeling against the English. The murder of 
Sir Alexander Barnes, Macnaghten himself, and other officers, 
was an indication of danger ; and since neither reinforce- 
ments nor money arrived from Calcutta / the English deter- 
mined on retreat to India, after concluding a treaty by which 
Dost Mahomed was reinstated, and our forts surrendered. 
That retreat of the British army began on January 6, 1842. 
By the 12th, the whole of the army had perished. Afghan tribes, 
chief of all the offended Khiljis, treacherously poured down 
upon the ill-fated troops, as they passed through the narrow 
gorges of the valleys, or became hemmed in by the mountains, 
and hewed them to pieces with their knives, or shot them down 
with their long rifles. Including camp followers and women 
and children, no less than 26,000 fell in this massacre. 
Happily, the married officers, with their wives and children, 
were timely confided, at the first alarm, to the care of Akbar 
Khan, the son of Dost Mahomed, who generously protected 
and finally surrendered them ; and of the ladies who accom- 
panied the army, only Lady Sale was injured by a bullet in 
the arm. 

Besides loss of reputation, this war is said to have cost 
England 24,000,000/. The English protege, Shah Soojah, was 
murdered near his own capital, and Dost Mahomed regained 
the sovereignty. Lord Ellenborough, who succeeded Lord 
Auckland, acknowledged by manifesto the error of this invasion 
of Afghanistan ; nevertheless, an English ' army of retribution ' 
poured into the country, sacked Cabul, and destroyed its 
mosque and bazaar, and its celebrated ' Hundred Gardens.' 
Finally, in the December of 1842, the British forces were 
withdrawn from the country. 

In the September of that same year, 1842, Sir Charles 
Napier was sent out to Sinde to exercise a general control over 



WAR WITH THE SIKHS. 257 

that province and Beloochistan. It had become highly im- 
portant to us to be on friendly relations with this Conquest 
State, since our dominion over Cutch had brought of sinde. 
us to its frontier, and the free navigation of the Indus would 
open a road for commerce with the north. Sinde was governed 
by its own Ameers, who were nominally allies of England ; but 
they were at feud with our Sikh ally, Eunjeet Sing, and their 
violation of treaties had shewn that they were little to be 
depended on. Lord Auckland, consequently, had stationed in 
Sinde subsidiary troops and a resident, according to the terms 
of a still more stringent treaty. The Ameers greeted Sir 
Charles Napier with a magnificent reception, but a quarrel aris- 
ing with respect to the navigation of the Indus, and the Ameers 
shewing signs of treachery, open rupture followed. The 
British Eesidency was attacked in February 1843, and within 
a few weeks the battles of Meeanee and Hyderabad had been 
fought, which left Sir Charles Napier the conqueror of Sinde. 

War in the Punjaub soon followed. Our faithful ally, 
Eunjeet Sing, was dead, and his son and heir murdered, and 
a strife about the succession among the Sikh fac- 
tions gave rise to suspicious military disturbances, 
in which was very evident a prevailing feeling of hostility 
against the English. As a precautionary measure, Sir Henry 
Hardinge, then governor-general, sent troops to the frontier, 
but the Sikhs took alarm at this movement, and crossed the 
Sutlej, in order to prevent the Eng-ish army from entering 
their boundary. Then followed that fearful struggle of 1845, 
when after several engagements the Sikhs were finally driven 
back over their own bridge of boats by Sir Henry Hardinge 
and Lord Gough, and about 8,000 were slaughtered or 
drowned in the river. Under the walls of Lahore, Lord 
Hardinge subsequently dictated his own terms. The Pun- 
jaub was made a subsidiary state, with British troops and a 
resident stationed at Lahore, and Dhuleep Sing, a young son 
of Eunjeet Sing's, was appointed Maharajah. 

In 1848 war again broke out. The mother of Dhuleep Simr 
conspired with the Sikh nobles against the English, and upon 

5 



258 BRITISH INDIA. 

the British authorities sending a governor of their own choos- 
ing to the town of Mooltan, the revolt became general, and 
two unfortunate young English officers, Vans Agnew and 
Lieutenant Anderson, who had acted as escort to the new 
governor, were cut down, and beheaded by a Sikh rabble. 
The campaign which followed was brought to an issue by 
Lord Gough's victory at Gujerat, 1849, when the Sikhs sur- 
rendered, the Punjaub was annexed, Dhuleep Sing and his 
mother were pensioned, and the Koh-i-noor diamond was sent 
to England as a trophy. This gem was traced back, as glitter- 
ing on the persons of chiefs and potentates, to the fourteenth 
century b. c. Nadir Shah, after his capture of Delhi, saw it 
sparkling over the brow of the conquered emperor, Mo- 
hammed Shah, and courteously exchanged turbans in token 
of friendship. From him it descended to Runjeet Sing and 
his sons; and whether or not it has exercised the baleful 
influence over its wearers which Hindoo tradition assigned it, 
the ' Mountain of Light ' now reposes harmless in the posses- 
sion of the British Queen. 

During succeeding years, under the rule of Lord Dalhousie, 
many minor states were annexed to the English empire on 
various grounds. This transference of old native principalities 
to a new and foreign rule has been regarded by some as an 
expedient highly politic and beneficial to the countries them- 
selves, and denounced by others as a gross violation of 
Hindoo rights and venerated institutions. Whichever view 
of the case be the more correct, the last and most important 
of Lord Dalhousie's annexations, that of the kingdom of Oude, 
in 1856, on the plea of misgovernment, was immediately fol- 
lowed by the great mutiny and rebellion of India, and in this 
province was concentrated the fellest spirit of hatred and 
revenge. 

The same year that Oude was appropriated, Lord Dalhousie 
returned to England to die, worn out by his labours in India. 
He had done much for internal improvements, in the establish- 
ment of railroads, cheap postage, telegraphs, &c. ; and besides 
this, he had conciliated the Sikhs and turned their chieftains 



THE MUTINY. 259 

from formidable foes into valuable allies. Nevertheless, 
during his administration, bitter feelings had begun to smoulder 
in the minds of the native population. The expenses attend- 
ant on the acquisition of new provinces had left little means 
of aiding the vast peasant class, whom recent famines had 
reduced to extreme want ; the families of the nobles had been 
brought to poverty by the extinction of the native courts ; 
Hindoo feeling had been outraged by the annihilation of old 
hereditary titles, and disregard of some of their venerated 
laws, — for instance, their law of adoption, which always sup- 
plied an heir in their line of princes upon the failure of legal 
heirs; — and especially the Mohammedans of Delhi had been 
roused by the degradation of the ■ House of Timur.' The 
old king, Mirza Jewan Bakht, still sat on the throne of 
the Moguls, but Lord Dalhousie had decreed that at his 
death all show of sovereignty should pass away from Delhi. 
Within his palace- walls there were as many as 3,000 persons 
of the royal blood, degraded by their exclusion from all offices 
in the state and army and from the means of education, and 
who were even in want of sustenance from the smallness of 
the pension allowed them. And an element of danger was 
added to all this discontent in the large masses of native 
soldiery that had been disbanded and dispersed about the 
country, and in the fact that the native army at that time was 
more than six times as numerous as the British troops. Such 
was the state of things when Lord Canning assumed the 
administration in 1856. 

Hitherto there had been no reason to doubt the fidelity of 
the Sepoy troops ; but experience had shewn that The 
there was peril to any officer who dared to interfere Mutiny. 
with their religious customs or caste. Fifty years before a 
Sepoy mutiny had broken out at Vellore in consequence of an 
order requiring the Sepoys to shave their chins and lips, and 
to remove the mark of caste from their brow ; and now an 
alarm was spreading widely among the Bengal troops that their 
most sacred rites were about to be invaded, in consequence of 
an order from General Anson in 1856, c that recruits should 

s 2 



260 BEITISH INDIA. 

swear to go by sea or land wherever their services might be 
required/ and a few other regulations, which the Sepoys con- 
sidered would endanger their faith. 

In the January of 1857 the use of the Minie rifle was intro- 
duced into the native army ; and hence a new source of fear 
was added, which roused the excited feelings of the Sepoys to 
their highest pitch. In spite of the warning which the Govern- 
ment had received, that ' in the greasing composition nothing 
should be used which could possibly offend the caste or religious 
prejudices of the natives,' the cartridge-grease was contracted 
for without any orders as to what animal fat should be used 
in its preparation. A rumour got abroad that hogs' fat had 
been used, to touch which with the lips would involve loss of 
caste to the Hindoo, and imperil the soul of both Hindoo and 
Mussulman. In vain experienced officers remonstrated with 
the Government, and urged that the Sepoys should be per- 
mitted to prepare their own cartridges ; the suspected grease 
was still forced upon them. 

The 19th Bengal Infantry first refused to bite these cart- 
ridges, and the regiment was disbanded ; but in the May of 
1857, at Meerut, near Delhi, the first actual revolt took place, 
and the Sepoy troops rose in open mutiny. The panic now 
became general, and was increased by the report that the 
English mixed bone-dust in the flour sold at the bazaars. 
Insurrection rapidly spread to Delhi, and the city being in the 
power of the native troops, a British army encamped before it 
June 8, and General Nicholson finally stormed and carried 
the place, September 23, receiving his death-shot at the Lahore 
gate. The scenes which marked that fatal year cannot be 
detailed here ; — the devotion and sacrifice of England's heroes 
at the siege of Lucknow — the ghastly tragedies of Cawnpore — 
the horrible and brutal reprisals of the English upon native 
rebels, or supposed rebels. It is sufficient to add, that during 
the next year, insurrection was quelled in India mainly owing to 
the ability of Sir Colin Campbell as commander-in-chief, and 
the indomitable spirit of the soldiery ; and that order and 
confidence in British rule were again made possible by the 



INDIA TKANSFERRED TO THE ENGLISH CROWN. 261 

administration of Lord Canning. A cool, unsympathising, 
but most capable ruler, Lord Canning had the rare power, in 
those exciting times, of looking beyond the smoke and the blood 
to the future of India, and earned the nickname of i Clemency 
Canning ' from the l Punch ' of the day, rather than satisfy 
the rabid cry for vengeance which rose around him on all 
sides. 

The war had left the East India Company in difficulties, 
financially and otherwise: and a discussion upon the close of 
state of India in the House of Commons led to the coSp 1 ^ 
close of the long reign of the East India Company, 1858 - 
and to the final transference of all political power to the 
Crown. On November 1, 1858, Queen Victoria was. declared 
Sovereign of India ; and Lord Canning, first Viceroy of India, 
with Her Majesty's proclamation in his hand, made the tour 
of the re-conquered empire, and announced to assembled 
multitudes that the i Maharanee ' of England was henceforth 
their mistress. 

The name of Lord Canning remains linked with measures 
of reform which have opened a new era for India. We now 
for the first time hear of voluntary colonisation, reclamation of 
waste lands, improvement of cultivation, extension of trade, 
and rise in wages. Government is spending its millions 
on public works instead of on wars, and many are now 
emerging from the poverty in which they have so long been 
pining, in consequence of the increased demand for their 
labour which these public works have created. The long-dis- 
puted land-assessment question has ended by the recognition 
of the great principle, that the cultivator is to enjoy the fruits 
of his labour. To this boon, the greatest, it is said, that could 
be conferred on India, another is added in the increased facili- 
ties given to the purchase and cultivation of waste lands. 
Native prejudices are quietly laying themselves down before 
the resistless force of material progress. Brahmin and Soodra 
crowd the railway-cars together, and barefoot pilgrimages to 
distant shrines are losing their prestige now that they can 
be performed comfortably in third-class trains. Better still, 



262 BRITISH INDIA. 

slavery, infanticide, widow-burning, human sacrifice, and other 
revolting usages, are fast disappearing under the beneficent 
influence of a Christian Government. 

But the best guarantee for the future prosperity of British 
India is the tardy justice that is now at last being extended to 
the native population, by making them sharers with ourselves 
in the fruits of peace and progress, and by preparing them for 
taking part in the actual administration of the empire. As one 
indication that they are worthy of increased responsibility, it 
may be mentioned, that on the arrival of the present Governor- 
General, Lord Elgin, the native press of India pronounced, that 
national education, on a large scale, ought to be the measure 
by which the career of the new Viceroy should be distin- 
guished. 



263 



CHAPTER V. 



POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF INDIA. 



India consists of British India, the Native States, and Foreign 
Possessions. 

British India, or that portion of territory actually belong- 
ing to Great Britain, consists at the present time of the three 
Presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay ; of the four 
lately erected Lieutenant-Governorships of the Punjaub, 
North -West Provinces, Oude, and British Burmah ; and of 
the Chief Commissionership of the Central Provinces. 

The Native States are ruled by their native princes, but 
are all more or less under British control, and connected by 
treaty with the British Government. Some states are pro- 
tected and tributary ; some are protected but not tributary ; 
some are subsidiary. Under the subsidiary treaties, the 
British Government provides a military force for the protection 
of the state, the cost of which is defrayed by the native go- 
vernment. Under the protective treaties, allegiance is required 
in return for British protection. But almost all treaties bind 
the native chiefs to act in ' subordinate co-operation ' with the 
British power, to relinquish the right of self-defence, to enter 
into no diplomatic relations with other states, and to appeal to 
the British Government, as supreme arbiter in all disputes 
with other states ; and prohibit them from maintaining in 
their service Americans or Europeans.* 

The form of government varies much in these Native States. 
In general, the rajah, or chief, is hereditary, and exercises 
despotic power under the eye of a British resident stationed at 
the Court. In some, he is aided by a council of nobles ; in 

* Martin's British Colonies. 



264 BRITISH INDIA. 

some, there are both temporal and spiritual rulers — as in 
Bhootan, where the Deb Rajah, or temporal ruler, is elected 
from among the officers of state, and the Dhurm Rajah, or 
spiritual chief, is regarded as an incarnation of the Deity, and 
miraculously invested with office from infancy, 

The only parts of the Indian continent wholly independent 
of England are the foreign territories, or few possessions which 
still remain to France and Portugal, viz. Chandernagore, on 
the Hooghly ; Pondicherrry and Karical, on the Coromandel 
Coast ; Yanon, on the Orissa Coast ; and Mahe, on the Malabar 
Coast, belonging to the French : — and Goa, on the West Coast ; 
Damaun, on the Concan Coast; and Dru, on the Kattywar 
Coast, belonging to the Portuguese. 



BENGAL. 

Bengal, although the last erected of the three Presidencies, 
holds the first rank, both for its greater extent, and from its 
capital of Calcutta having been constituted the seat of the 
supreme Government. The first English settlement in Bengal 
was made in the year 1652, at the town of Hooghly, which 
had been founded by the Portuguese on the banks of the river 
Hooghly, a branch of the Ganges ; the English being encou- 
raged to found a factory there, in consequence of the Mogul 
Emperor, Shah Jehan, having given the Company licence to 
trade to any extent throughout his dominions without payment 
of custom dues, in return for the skilful medical treatment of 
an English surgeon of Surat, a Mr. Gabriel Boughton, who 
had been recommended to the emperor by the Mohamme- 
dan merchants, and had cured his favourite daughter of a 
severe burn. In 1698, the English removed their factory to 
a small village in the midst of a jungle, 23 miles lower down 
the river, called Calcutta, or Calicotta, on account, it is sup- 
posed, of its containing a temple dedicated to Cali, the Hindoo 
Goddess of Time ; and Prince Azim, a grandson of the Em- 
peror Aurungzebe, and commander of the Mogul forces in 



BENGAL. 265 

Bengal, permitted the English to buy this territory and two 
adjoining villages, and to erect fortifications, which were 
named Fort William after the reigning king. In 1707, the 
Fort William settlement, which had hitherto been subordinate 
to Madras, was made into a separate presidency, and the 
Company still further extended it by the purchase of fresh 
lands in the neighbourhood. Being exposed to attack from 
the French and their native allies, the English were obliged 
to make Calcutta a strong place of defence. It was neverthe- 
less captured by the Soubahdar of Bengal, Surajah Dowlah, 
of Black-Hole memory, in 1756. But the decisive victory of 
Lord Clive at Plassy, and defeat of the Nabob, so completely 
established English authority, that from this victory may be 
said to date the beginning of the absolute government of the 
English in Bengal. 

By cession and by conquest, district after district became 
added to the Presidency, until it stretched over nearly the 
whole of the country watered by the Ganges. Since the 
separation of the North-West Provinces, the Presidency has 
been reduced in dimensions to about twice the area of the 
United Kingdom, and its boundaries now are : Nepaul, Sik- 
him, and Bhotan on the north ; Benares and the North-West 
Provinces on the west ; Burmah and Siam on the east ; and 
the Bay of Bengal and Sumbulpoor, with some States on the 
Mahanuddy river, on the south. 

This political division of the Presidency must not be con- 
founded with the old native division of the province 
of Bengal, which is for the most part a level tract of pro^Sie. 
about 300 miles from north to south, and 350 from 
east to west, enclosed within the natural boundaries of the 
Himalayas on the north, a thick belt of jungle from ten to 
twenty miles broad on the east, impenetrable woods towards 
the coast on the south, and Behar on the west ; and of which 
old Bengal province Moorshedabad was the capital, and Ben- 
galee the language spoken throughout its whole extent. The 
whole of this province is included within the Presidency, but 



266 BRITISH INDIA. 

the Presidency itself has been politically divided into the 
following districts : — 



Patna 


Chittagong 


Bhaugttlpoor 


NlJDDEA 


Eajshaye 


BUHDWAN 


Dacca 


CUTTACK. 



These are called the Eegulation Provinces of Bengal; but the 
Presidency also includes the Non-Regulation Provinces of 
Assam, Chota-Nagpoor, Darjeeling, and other small states: 
the term i regulation' being applied throughout India to 
those British possessions which have been always under one 
established system of government, as is the case wdth those 
belonging to the old presidencies ; and the term ' non-regula- 
tion ' to those usually more recently -acquired territories which 
are under separate, individual, and arbitrary management. 
But the distinction will soon cease to have any meaning, since 
the whole empire is fast becoming more or less subject to 
the same plan of jurisdiction. 

A large part of Western Bengal lies in the great Gangetic 
valley, and is chiefly an alluvial plain, where the 

n ants! " h°t damp climate stimulates vegetation as much as 
it depresses human energies. Owing to the great 
cities which have sprung up on the banks of the Ganges, this 
valley has been from earliest times the most thickly -peopled 
and civilised portion of India ; and now, although most of 
these old cities are mere heaps of scattered ruins, the people 
swarm in these districts or about Calcutta and the suburbs, 
and are reckoned at 972 to the square mile. 

Bengal is peopled by various races. Tribes of a Tartar 
origin inhabit the hilly districts of the north and east, and to- 
wards the west, Afghans and Mohammedans and Europeans 
and other races form a mixed population with the native Hin- 
doos, or Bengalese, who are supposed to bear a proportion of 
four-fifths to the whole. The Bengalese are of the pure Hin- 
doo type, and have all the native beauty, domestic virtues, and 
tendency towards intellectual pursuits belonging to the race ; 



BENGAL. 267 

but, owing probably to the enervating climate, together with 
opium-eating and other indulgences, they are inferior in cou- 
rage, energy, and industrial skill ; they more easily fell a prey 
to the Moslem conquerors, and they have been more passive 
under British rule. Much has been said of the false, suspi- 
cious nature of the Bengalese. Among the lower classes, 
Mr. Charles Grant says, i the practices of cheating, pilfering, 
tricking, and imposing are so common, that the Hindoos look 
upon them as natural evi]s ; ' and it is cited as a curious evi- 
dence of their tendency to mistrust, that during the hundred 
years that the British Government held there the seat of em- 
pire, it never dared to take a census of the people, for fear of 
exciting suspicious fears; and consequently, the returns for 
Bengal were less to be relied on than those for any other 
district. It is certainly some evidence of their toleration of 
thievery in general, that for a long series of years the criminal 
jurisprudence of Bengal was principally employed in the sup- 
pression of a system of robbing in gangs called ' dakoity/ 
which was inherited as a regular profession by whole families, 
who were considered entitled by it to a higher rank in society 
than that of the mere ryot, or cultivator of the soil. These 
dakoits were often settled residents in the villages, possessed 
houses and lands, and mixed freely with the respectable inha- 
bitants, and it is only lately that the system has really de- 
creased through the vigilance of English officials. Nevertheless, 
we have abundant testimony from residents, that dishonesty, on 
the whole, is no more a peculiar growth of India than of Europe, 
and that judiciously kind treatment and just dealing will be 
found to go ev^en farther in India than elsewhere. 

Bengal has greatly increased in wealth during the last half 
centurv, and there is no part of India where there 

, t . . , . Condition 

is so much land m proportion under cultivation, or of the 
so large a native class of wealthy and influential per- eop e * 
sons. This prosperity dates from the time of Lord Cornwallis, 
who in 1793 made a change in the land-tenure which restored 
the rights of the soil to its native owners. Before this time, 
the East India Company, deriving its revenue from the land, 



268 BRITISH INDIA. 

and the monopolies of salt and opium, had in effect kept all 
power over the soil in their own hands, and had made the 
land-tenure so uncertain to the holder that he could have no 
interest in the cultivation of his estate ; while oppressive tax- 
ation made it equally difficult for the zemindar or proprietor 
to acquire capital, and for the ryot or cultivator to provide a 
maintenance. 

By the ' Permanent Settlement Act ■ of Lord Cornwallis, the 
- Government gave up all claim to increased revenue, 

Permanent . ° .."*,- 7 

settlement whatever might be the profit from the land : the 
zemindars (landowners and revenue-collectors) were 
made proprietors of estates at a fixed rate of assessment, 
under condition that the ryot should not be ejected so 
long as he paid a certain rent ; besides which, waste lands, 
which formed two-thirds of the province, were to be cultivated 
without any additional tax. From many causes, peculiar to 
the country, the scheme failed to work so well as might have 
been hoped for from the justness of its principle ; — as Earn- 
mohun Eoy said, ' it worked well for the Company, well for the 
zemindars, and most wretchedly for the ryots,' who still were 
subject to oppressive exactions, and to' all but starvation in case 
of a bad harvest. Nevertheless, Bengal prospered under this 
system as it had never prospered before ; cultivation of all 
kinds increased ; new trades sprang up ; the i lazy ' Hindoo 
peasant worked thirteen hours a day on his land ; the land- 
holders rose by their opulence to the rank of nobles, and the 
' baboo,' or native trader, became proverbial for his magni- 
ficence ; the Government meanwhile finding its reward in 
this : that England gained by the immense increase in Bengal 
exports and imports. 

Under judicious administration,, it is trusted that the pros- 
i d' and P er ity °f Bengal may reach to the poorer classes ; 
Opium but there are still many causes existing which tend 
to their depression. For instance, in the indigo 
districts, the ryot is reported to fare no better than on the 
zemindar estates, owing to the system that prevails in India 
of European planters advancing money beforehand for the 



BENGAL. 269 

cultivation, under the condition of a certain supply of indigo 
being forthcoming at a given time ; and constant evasion of 
the contract on the part of the ryot, and violent exaction of 
its fulfilment under all casualties on the part of the planter, 
give rise to endless disputes and hindrances to well-being 
on both sides. In the opium districts the evils of this system 
bear still more heavily on the ryot, from the Government itself 
being one of the contracting parties. The monopoly of the 
opium traffic is an important source of revenue, and the 
Government advances money to more than half a million 
cultivators of the poppy in Bengal. All the opium grown in 
Bengal is thus required to be sold by public auction ; and 
every ryot holding land that is favourable for the culture of 
the poppy, is bound to engage to grow a certain quantity and 
deliver it for sale at a price fixed upon by Government ; which 
price is usually about one-eighth less than its real market 
value, which is regulated by the quantity for sale and the 
demand for it in China. The profit at which Government sells 
the opium again, constitutes the opium revenue ; but the 
cultivator suffers from being compelled to use his land for an 
article which yields him but little profit, and from the trouble 
and expense of having to deliver it at the public auction, 
which is often far distant from the spot on which the opium is 
grown. 

Eastern Provinces of Bengal, 

The country of Assam, which forms the north-east portion 
of the Bengal Presidency, was ceded to the English 
at the close of the Burmese war in 1826. It is an 
enormous valley of about 43,000 square miles, lying at the 
base of the eastern range of the Himalayas, and subject to an 
annual inundation of the Brahmapootra, which converts a 
great part of its surface into small swampy islands. Old 
causeways, eight feet high, connect these islands, and are the 
only traces left of the earliest inhabitants. The alluvial soil 
formed by the inundations is exceedingly fertile, and although 






270 BRITISH INDIA. 

Assam is north of the tropics, both climate and productions 
are of a tropical character. The prevalence of jungle, marsh, 
and forest, renders the district prolific in elephants, tigers, apes, 
&c. Sheep here are clothed in hair instead of wool. 

The Assamese, or inhabitants of the plains, are mostly of 
Hindoo extraction, but in a low grade of civilisation, living, 
from the nobles down to the pyke or peasant, in bamboo huts. 
They profess Brahminism, and practise it after a fashion, not 
scrupling, it is said, to flavour their rice with such animal 
food as rats, snakes, ants and grasshoppers, or even to cook a 
dog on festive occasions. In the parts near Bengal, there are 
many Mohammedans, and the hilly districts are peopled by 
many wild and aboriginal tribes. The poppy, which grows 
here without stint, is said to be the ruling influence, and even 
infants are regularly drugged with it. 

But Assam is chiefly known to us as a tea-producing 
country, and the tea-plant seems to be working as much good 
as the poppy is working evil. English companies are rapidly 
converting the wastes and jungles of Assam and Siihet into 
flourishing tea-plantations, and Chinese cultivators are em- 
ployed to instruct the natives in their management, while the 
Assamese themselves are fast acquiring a taste for the beverage. 
There are now in Assam 160 tea plantations, owned by 60 
companies. More than 200 specimens of tea from Assam 
were sent to the International Exhibition, the produce of 50 
plantations extending over 1,000 miles of country, and in 
the varieties of gunpowder, pekoe, hyson, souchong, and 
congou exhibited, Mr. Martin says the c theine' principle was 
very marked, and the leaf well prepared.* Government 
reports that, at no distant time, tea is likely to become one of 
the chief staples of India ; and since Suddya, a frontier-post 
in Assam on the Brahmapootra, is scarcely more than 300 
miles from the great Chinese river, Yang-tse-Kiang, it has been 
suggested that these two rivers may one day form a highway 
between the two great commercial capitals of the east, Calcutta 

* Martin's British India. 



BENGAL. 271 

and Shanghai, and the tea of China be thus brought by a 
short transit to India. 

Chittagong, the most southerly of the east provinces, was 
ceded to the English by the Nabob of Bengal in 1760. 
It is a well-water ed country, and in the valley of the l agong * 
chief river, the Kamaphuli, coffee, cotton, indigo and sugar, 
are cultivated by Bengalese. The majority of the inhabitants 
are Mughs of Aracan, who settled here when the country was 
conquered by the Burmese in 1783, and most of whom are 
traders or mechanics. In the hilly districts are wild and 
savage tribes, who give our Government much trouble by their 
predatory habits ; as for instance when, not long ago, a tribe 
of Kookies made a descent into the plain, set fire to 15 
villages, carried off the women and children for slaves, and 
destroyed everything that they could not carry away, and had 
safely escaped back to their hills before the British police 
could arrive. 

Chief Towns of Bengal. 

Calcutta, which has been the capital of Bengal since the 
battle of Plassy, is the metropolis of British India and the seat 
of the supreme government. It stands on a low, unhealthy 
plain on the east bank of the Hooghly, about a hundred miles 
from the sea; but its position as a great city and military 
fortress is unusually commanding and secure. An enormous 
river system converges to it, and all the Indian railways 
branch from it, and it is thus the depot of boundless supplies 
of food, and of coal from inexhaustible mines. The river on 
which it stands is navigable even for seventy-gun frigates, 
but the sunderbunds would prevent any fleet ascending the 
Hooghly, unless they were aided by English pilots ; and, more- 
over, Calcutta contains the only great stores of gunpowder 
held by Europeans in Asia, and the only great collection of 
saltpetre throughout the world.* 

The town extends about six miles along the river, and was 

* Spectator, June 13, 1863. 



272 BRITISH INDIA. 

laid out, according to its present plan, about the year 1813, 
when Lord Hastings was governor. A main street, 60 feet 
wide, was carried down the middle, handsome squares were 
made, with planted walks around, and tanks in the centre, and 
a quay was constructed leading down to the river by a flight 
of stone steps, where goods were landed, and the natives 
performed their ablutions. 

There are few towns that have so great a variety of in- 
habitants as Calcutta — the native Bengalese mingling with 
Arabs, Burmese, Chinese (who are mostly shoemakers), 
Jews, Mussulmans, Parsees, Armenians, Portuguese, French 
and English ; and this motley character of the population, 
which gives an unusually lively aspect to the streets, causes a 
corresponding variety in the buildings, so that a bird's-eye 
view of Calcutta shows a multifarious assemblage of Protestant 
and Eoman Catholic churches, Hindoo pagodas, Sikh temples, 
Mohammedan mosques, Jews' synagogues, Greek and Ar- 
menian churches, and Buddhist temples. The quarters in- 
habited by Europeans consist mostly of handsome detached 
villas, built of brick and stucco ; but in this ' city of palaces ' 
there is only one portion deemed respectable enough for the 
residence of 'gentlemen,' — that is, the nobility, civil and 
military officers, and chief merchants. This is the Chow- 
ringhee Eoad and the adjoining streets, where the houses are 
built only on one side of the way, and look pleasant with 
their bright green verandahs and blinds. The crowded 
quarter where the natives chiefly reside, lies to the north, and 
is a close assemblage of narrow streets, with tall houses 
having their backs to the street, shops and stores at the 
bottom, and loop-holes instead of windows in the upper 
stories. And here it may be mentioned that houses, properly 
speaking, with stories and stairs, belong only to the presiden- 
cies ; in the provinces, the bungalow is the usual dwelling — 
a building with only one floor, and which seems from the 
outside all roof. 

Calcutta has a municipality composed of commissioners, 
who levy rates for town purposes. The city is now lighted 



BENGAL. 273 

by 600 gas-lights, and measures are being taken for better 
drainage and general improvement, especially in the European 
quarter ; but there is at present no sufficient water supply for 
the houses. 

About a quarter of a mile below the city, on the river 
bank, is the citadel of Fort William, the largest fortress in 
India, built by Lord Clive. The works mount 619 guns, and 
the citadel can accommodate 15,000 men. Between the for- 
tress and Calcutta is an esplanade, which forms the favourite 
promenade and drive in the cool of the evenings and 
mornings. 

Other towns of note in the province are : Moorshedahad, 
the old Mohammedan capital of Bengal ; a large populous 
town in the district of Rajshaye, but extremely unhealthy. 
Patna, capital of the Bahar province, has a large trade in 
opium, rice, cotton, and silk goods. Most of its houses are 
but mud huts. Mirzapoor, on the right bank of the Ganges, 
is the chief market for silk and cotton. Burdwan has iron 
and coal mines in its neighbourhood. Dacca, once cele- 
brated for its muslin manufacture, is now fast falling into 
ruins, in consequence of the introduction of cloths made by 
power - looms, which are cheaper than the native fabrics. 
JPumeahj in Bhaugulpoor, is a centre of the indigo trade. 
Bahar is a centre of the opium, sugar, and cotton trade. 
Sumbidpoor, in Chota Nagpoor, is celebrated for its diamonds. 
Juggernaut or Poorie is one of the chief strongholds of Hindoo 
superstition. Its great pagoda stands among the salt sands of 
Cuttack on the east coast, and is a beacon to travellers and a 
great centre of pilgrimage. It was built in 1198, and dedi- 
cated to Krishna under his title of Juggernaut, or ' Lord of the 
Universe.' 

The Bengal Presidency has a population estimated in 1862 
at 41,898,608. It is ruled by a lieutenant-governor, aided 
by a Legislative Council, composed of eight Europeans and 
three natives. . 

Since the establishment of peace, an organised police has 

T 



274 BRITISH INDIA. 

to a great extent taken the place of the regular troops. 
. , . . The old native army of Bengal was almost entirely 
trationand broken up during the mutiny, and the European 

force consists now of 44,916 men. The duty of 
suppressing riot, guarding life and property, and preserving 
peace in general, now devolves upon the military police, 
which is a curious melange of Hindoo Sepoys, Sikhs, Mughs, 
and hill tribes, numbering about 10,000, and commanded by 
40 European officers ; and it speaks something for the power 
of discipline, that whole regiments of what were only the other 
day wild, plundering savages, are now placed on the frontiers 
to keep in check their brethren of the hills. Besides the 
military, there is a body of Civil Police for the detection of 
crime, and the village chokeydars or watchmen, who belong 
to it, have the duty of watching, on an average, forty houses 
each. 

Calcutta was made a bishopric in 1814, and the Church of 
Eeli 'ous England is represented in Bengal by a bishop, arch- 
Establish- deacon, and chaplains appointed to the different 

stations in Bengal, the North-West provinces and the 
Punjaub, besides about 100 missionaries and other clergy- 
men. Many other Christian denominations have their repre- 
sentatives and missionaries, but in a less proportion. 

About 80,000Z. is yearly expended for education in Bengal, 
that is, the State pays less than a halfpenny a head for educa- 
tion, while in England the State pays ninepence a head. The 
educational department is under a Director of Public Instruc- 
tion, aided by inspectors. Three hundred schools and colleges 
are supported by Government, and as many more are helped 

by Government funds, attended jointly by about 

40,000 scholars. There are but about ten schools 
for girls, the Bengalese still opposing female education, and 
there not being much time for it when, as is often the case, 
girls are betrothed at four and five years old, and are 
mothers at thirteen and fourteen. Calcutta has a university 
which confers degrees, a medical college, and. a college for 
civil engineering ; the demand for native civil engineers being 



BOMBAY. 275 

much on the increase. At the Madrissa College for Moham- 
medan youths, and at the Sanscrit College, oriental education 
is given, English and Persian being added at the Madrissa. 
The chief learned societies are the Asiatic Society, founded 
by Sir William Jones in 1784, and containing the forty-eight 
quarto volumes of ' Transactions ' and l Journals,' which are 
so invaluable to oriental students ; and the Dalhousie Institu- 
tion, for general science and literature. Besides which, Bengal 
has its horticultural societies, photographic societies, geolo- 
gical museums, mechanics' institutions, political associations, 
both European and Mohammedan, and various clubs and 
masonic lodges. At the beginning of the century one single 
newspaper, published at Calcutta, was for many years the 
only English journal in India. Bengal had in 1862 about 
fifty English and fifteen native journals. 

The East Indian Railway, begun in 1851, has been carried 
on at the rate of ninety miles a year, and is now 
nearly completed from Calcutta to Delhi. 

BOMBAY. 

In 1684, the western presidency of Surat was transferred to 
Bombay. Surat, on the river Taptee, the present capital of 
Gujerat, was an ancient trading port, called by the Moham- 
medans * one of the Gates of Mecca,' from the number of 
pilgrims who embarked there on their way to visit the tomb of 
the Prophet. It was here that in 1615 the English planted 
one of their first factories on the Indian continent, and Surat 
and Bantam, in Java, were for long the two chief centres of 
our commerce in the East. We have seen in the history of 
Bengal how, by a happy accident, arising from the high repu- 
tation the English physicians at Surat had gained among the 
Mohammedan merchants, the settlement at Surat became the 
means of extending the English territory at Bengal on the 
opposite side of the peninsula; and when, in 1653, Madras 
was raised to the rank of presidency for the east coast, Surat 
was constituted the presidency for the west. 

Fifteen years afterwards, Charles II., finding his marriage 

t 2 



276 BRITISH INDIA. 

portion of the island of Bombay more expense than profit, 
transferred it to the Company, to whom it proved a most 
valuable acquisition, since Bombay was only 200 miles from 
Surat — an unusually short distance for our English settlements 
in those days — and its insular position rendered it a most 
convenient maritime port. The old Portuguese fortifications 
were strengthened by the English, houses were built and looms 
set up ; and according to the stipulation of the king, that their 
c laws should be consonant to reason,' a system of administra- 
tion was framed to suit the motley population of English, 
Hindoos, Germans, Mohammedans, and Parsees that con- 
gregated there. Nevertheless, Bombay suffered from mutinies 
and insurrections ; and for the sake of security it was found 
advisable to transfer to it the seat of government from Surat 
in 1684. 

Like Madras, the Presidency of Bombay was made in some 
sense subordinate to Bengal by the Eegulating Act of 1773, 
which first appointed a Governor- General to British India. 
The history of the Presidency was connected much with 
Mahratta warfare, from the time that Sevajee first attacked 
the English factory at Surat, until the downfall of the Mahratta 
nation by the conquest of Poonah, in 1816. By the conquest 
of Sinde, a large northern territory was added to Bombay, 
and the adjoining Sattara districts were annexed by Lord 
Dalhousie in 1843. The Rajah of Sattara had placed himself 
under British protection, after the defeat of the Mahrattas ; 
and the failure of male heirs was made by Lord Dalhousie the 
plea of annexation. 

The Bombay Presidency consists of two tracts of land bor- 
Bombay dering on the Arabian Sea, viz. Sinde and Bombay 
Districts. Proper. Sinde, the most northerly portion, com- 
prises the lower basin of the Indus ; and Bombay Proper is an 
irregular strip, extending from Gujerat to North Canara : the 
whole Presidency lying from south-east to north-west more 
than 650 miles. The Regulation Districts of Bombay com- 
prise an area of 74,013 square miles, and are — 



BOMBAY. 277 

Bombay and Colaba Islands Candeish 

and Town of Bombay Poonah 

Ahmedabad Ahmedntggar 

Kalra Sholapoor 

Broach Kutnagherry 

SrRAT Belgatjm 

Tannah or North Concan Dharwar. 

Not included among these, but under the Bombay Government, 
are Sinde and the Sattara Jaghires ; and there are territories 
amounting in all to more than 56,000 square miles, which retain 
their native rulers, subject to the Bombay jurisdiction; such 
as Cutch, the dominions of the Guicowar, and many other 
small states in Gujerat, South Concan, and the South Mahratta 
country. 

Bombay Proper is entirely within the tropics, and traversed 
by the chain of the "Western Ghauts. Between these Bombay 
mountains and the sea on the western side, the Proper, 
climate is moist and sultry, and the surface rocky and rugged, 
except near the Gulf of Bombay, where it becomes flat and 
marshy. On the eastern side the mountain range supports the 
table-land of the Deccan, which in Bombay is from 1,000 to 
2,000 miles above the sea level. The population is a very 
various and rapidly -increasing one, owing to the favourable 
mercantile position of the port of Bombay ; although there are 
large tracts within the Presidency still uninhabited, and 
covered with jungle. The Mahrattas largely predominate in 
Bombay, and Mussulmans are comparatively few. Wild 
tribes, low castes, Jains or Buddhists, and Jews, bear a large 
proportion, but the class who have contributed most to the 
prosperity of Bombay are the Parsees, who by their skill in 
trade and the mechanical arts, and especially by their reputa- 
tion for honest dealing, have raised themselves in many cases 
to the rank of merchant princes, and have added greatly to the 
wealth of the country. 

The town of Bombay, the capital of the Presidency, Bombay 
is situated on a neck of Bombay Island, and was Cit y> 
so called by the Portuguese on account of the excellent 



278 BEITISH INDIA. 

harbourage afforded there, Bom - Bahai meaning good hay. 
The harbour, which is the safest in India, is enclosed by a group 
of small islands — Bombay, Salsette, and Colabba, or Old Wo- 
man's Island — and seems to have been the only advantage the 
place possessed, besides its convenient mercantile position; 
since these rocky and marshy islets in that sultry climate were 
so unhealthy that European life was said to average there 
only three years, and the salt soil grew scarcely anything but 
cocoa-nut trees. The fort is washed by the sea on three sides 
and encloses the town, which consists mostly of wooden houses 
with verandahs and sloping tiled roofs, and extensive shops 
and warehouses. In the north quarter of the fort are the 
Parsee dwellings, dirty and ill supplied with water. Outside 
the fort are the houses of the poorer classes, built of clay, and 
thatched with palmyra leaves. The chief buildings are the 
Protestant cathedral, Scotch, Portuguese, and Armenian 
churches, Jews' synagogues, mosques, and Hindoo temples ; 
the Government and custom-houses, and a large hospital, 
founded by Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy. Ship - building is 
extensively carried on at Bombay, since the forests of Malabar 
and Gujerat afford a ready supply of timber. The docks, 
although belonging to the British Government, are entirely 
under the management of Parsees, whose ships are so well 
built, that their old traders, after many years' service, have 
been bought by the Government for the navy, as being supe- 
rior to new-built European vessels. 

The export trade of the place is chiefly in cotton, received 
from Gujerat and the Concan, Malabar, Cutch, and Sinde ; 
also, Persian raw silk, gums, drugs, and spices. Its commerce 
is principally with Europe and China ; besides which it has a 
large coasting traffic with all the western ports of India : con- 
veying to them European manufactures, and the produce of 
Bengal and China, and receiving, in return from the northern 
ports, cotton-wool, cloths, timber, oil, and grain ; and from the 
south, cotton, hemp, timber, pepper, rice, and cocoa - nuts ; 
which merchandise is, in a great measure, re - exported to 



BOMBAY. 279 

Europe, America, Canton, the Arabian and Persian Gulfs, and 
the Bay of Bengal. 

North of Bombay Proper is Gujerat and the Kattywar 
peninsula; a wild country, at present but little 
known ; rocky in the interior — which is traversed by 
the Aravulli mountains — and flat towards the coast ; and for 
the most part rich and productive, especially in cotton, which 
is the staple product. Various tribes inhabit this region; 
Parsees and Mohammedans chiefly in the towns, and in other 
parts Mahrattas and Eajpoots, and many aboriginal races — such 
as the Bheels and Coolies, who are supposed to have once been 
the same people, and the true aborigines of Gujerat; the 
Koombies, an agricultural tribe ; and the Katties or Cathies, 
a singular people, without caste, who worship the sun, live 
under the dominion of priests and bards, and who are supposed 
to be descended from an ancient people occupying a part of 
the Punjaub at the time of Alexander's invasion. Baroda is 
the principal town in Gujerat, and the residence of the 
Guicowar, or Mahratta chief; a certain Guicowar family 
having assumed the sovereignty early in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, and their name having descended as a sort of title. 

Cutch is a principality, lying between Sinde and Gujerat, 
and separated from them by an extensive salt morass, 

Cutch. 

called the Eunn of Cutch. It is mostly a sandy 
region, interspersed with rock, where cotton is largely culti- 
vated and exchanged for the grain of the neighbouring districts. 
In 1819, an earthquake in this region suddenly raised the 
country ten feet above its former level, and the raised portion 
now goes by the name of Ullah Bund, or God's Wall. The 
country is thinly peopled by Mohammedans, Hindoos, and a 
tribe of Eajpoots, who follow many Hindoo observances while 
believing in the Koran, and were so addicted to female infan- 
ticide, that they had to procure their wives from neighbour- 
ing tribes. Their ruler is the Eao of Cutch, under British 
protection. 

Sinde, or Scinde, annexed by Sir Charles Napier in 1843, 
is a rich agricultural country, about the size of England 



280 BRITISH INDIA. 

and Wales, lying on both sides of the southern course of 
the Indus, and extending from the sea to near where 
that river joins the Chenaub. The climate, differs 
from the rest of India in the absence of periodical rains, and 
the great fertility is owing to the inundations of the Indus 
caused by the melting of the snows in the upper part of its 
course. The snow-line being 3,000 feet higher in summer 
than in winter, an immense volume is annually dissolved, 
which, flowing down, raises the level of the river, and spreads 
over the land. Sinde is but thinly peopled by Hindoos, 
Mohammedans, and other religious tribes; and the Sindians 
generally are a finer race than the Bengalese in the same 
latitude on the Ganges. Hyderabad, the capital, although 
fortified, is chiefly a town of mud huts. Tattah was the 
ancient capital, and Shirkapoor is now the most commercial 
and populous city. 

The population of the whole Bombay Presidency at the last 
Govern- return of 1862 was estimated at 11,939,512. Its 
ment, &c. legislation, like that of Madras, is vested in a Go- 
vernor and Council of Europeans and natives, whose measures 
are subject to the assent or non-assent of the Governor General, 
or may be disallowed by the Crown. The military strength 
of the presidency has lately been much reduced. 

The bishopric of Bombay was founded in 1837. The num- 
ber of clergy are fifty five. There are various missionaries of 
other denominations. 

The chief educational establishments are, the Bombay Uni- 
versity, Elphinstone College, Grant Medical College, Poona 
College, Poona Government Law School ; besides engineering 
and mechanical schools, and numerous common schools, both 
English and native. 

In Sinde there are several schools established at Hyderabad, 
Shirkapoor, and Kurrachee. Newspapers are numerous in the 
different spoken languages, and even Sinde had in 1862 its 
four weekly and bi-weekly journals. 

The railways of the Presidency are, the Bombay, Baroda 3 



MADRAS. 281 

and Central India Kailway, and the Sinde Railway, from 
Kurrachee to Hyderabad, opened in 1861. 

MADRAS. 

Madras became a presidency in 1653. About thirty years 
before, a Naig, or local chief, had granted to the English a 
piece of ground at Armegon, for a factory ; but this was found 
to be an inconvenient position for the conveyance of the woven 
goods and muslins which formed the chief export trade of the 
Coromandel coast, and consequently the factory was removed 
in 1640 to Madras, sixty miles lower south on the east coast, 
and Fort George was erected for its defence. Soon afterwards 
the seat of government for the east coast was transferred here 
from Bantam in Java ; the great distance of the Bantam settle- 
ment rendering it ineligible as a commercial centre. Madras, 
however, remained so insignificant, even after it was raised to 
the rank of a presidency, that at one period the garrison of 
the fort consisted of ten soldiers, and the civil establishment 
of but two factors. Together with Bombay it was long main- 
tained by the revenues of Bengal, and in 1773 it was first 
placed to a certain extent under the control of the Governor- 
General of Bengal ; nevertheless, from the stirring events of 
which Madras was the centre, it became the most important 
of the presidencies and the principal scene of British conquest, 
until the fall of Seringapatam and subjugation of the Mysore 
under Lord Wellesley in 1799. 

By successive annexations the Presidency has extended over 
the whole south portion of the peninsula of India, beginning 
on the east coast from Ganjam, in the 20th parallel, and 
stretching across to the western side so as to include Malabar 
and South Canara. According to the return for 1862, the 
Presidency is divided into^ eighteen regulation districts and two 
non-regulation districts, viz. : — 

Regulation Districts. 

Madras City Nellore South Canara 

Madras Bellary Malabar 



282 





BRITISH INDIA. 




CrODAVERY 


KoRTH ArCOT 


Trichinopoly 


KlSTNA 


South Arcot 


Tanjore 


KuRNOUL 


Salem 


Madura 


ClJDDAPAH 


COIMBATOOR 


TlNNEVELLY. 



Non-regulation Districts. 

GrANJAM VlZAGAPATAM. 

Besides these, there are other large territories, more recently 
annexed, subject to the jurisdiction of Madras, viz. : — 

Mysore : — an inland province, larger than Scotland, and 
forming the highest and most southern part of the table land 
of the Deccan, now ruled by a British Commissioner — the 
native Eajah having been deposed in 1832, on the plea of 
incompetency, and allowed a retiring pension of 35,000/. per 
annum and a fifth of the revenues of Mysore. 

Jeypoor and the Hill States of Orissa: — a wild country, 
mostly covered with thick jungle, to the north of the Godavery, 
inhabited by half-savage tribes, whose zemindars pay tribute 
to the British government, and are subject to the Madras 
authorities. 

Coorg : — an ancient Hindoo principality to the west of 
Mysore ; a fertile and wooded mountain region, whose Rajah 
was dethroned by Lord William Bentinck in 1834, under 
pretence of some personal accusation brought against him by 
his own family, and who died, a state prisoner in London in 
1859, worn out, it is said, by a law-suit which he had carried 
on for nine years in the vain hope of recovering a sum of 
85,000/., which the Coorg family had invested in the Govern- 
ment Funds. 

The two small States of Cochin and Travancore, at the 
extreme south of India, are ruled by native Rajahs entirely 
under the control of the English authorities. 

In climate and surface Madras differs much from Bengal. 
A large portion is occupied by the mountain ranges of the 
Eastern and Western Ghauts, which unite about fifty miles 
north-west of the town of Madras, and thence form the 



MADRAS. 283 

magnificent buttress which supports the table-land of the 
Deccan. The climate varies with the varying surface ; com- 
paratively temperate on the highlands ; on the west coast 
moist, and on the east drier and hotter than in any part of 
India : the state of the atmosphere causing sometimes glass to 
crack and wood so to shrink that the nails fall out of doors and 
furniture. 

The inhabitants vary much according to the differences of 
climate ; but the Hindoos of Madras, who are about as twelve to 
one of the population, are in general a bolder, darker race than 
those of Bengal : a greater proportion are employed Social 
in manufactures, and fewer in agriculture. Never- Condition, 
theless, the natives of Madras have been in a more depressed 
state, partly owing to the selfish policy of the English in ex- 
cluding from all posts of honour and profit even the educated 
and capable among them ; and partly owing to the operation 
of the Ryotwary system — a plan of assessment devised by Sir 
Thomas Munroe as an improvement upon the Ze- Ryotwa ry 
mindary or Permanent Settlement system of Lord System. 
Cornwallis, but which has had the effect of sweeping away a 
large section of the native middle class, and of degrading the 
peasantry. By this system, the ryot or small cultivator paid 
his rent direct to the state ; the rent being fixed whether crops 
failed or not. But the Government rent- collectors proved 
far more rapacious and annoying than the zemindar had 
been, and it has been found that wherever the country 
has been deprived of its middle class of landholders, the 
land has sunk in cultivation, and the peasant in position and 
comfort. 

These evils are, however, disappearing. Assessments have 
been lightened ; and in Tanjore especially, where the old 
proprietors are still in possession, and the rate is moderate 
as well as fixed, the country has every sign of prosperity. 
According to Sir Charles Trevelyan, the late governor, houses 
and homesteads are well built and the people well clad and fed; 
high roads, shaded with fruitful trees, sometimes pass for miles 
through almost a continuous village, and the landlord class 



284 BRITISH INDIA. 

are more like sturdy honest English yeomen than any other 
in India. 

In many of the minor principalities, where often a native 
prince of character and experience has been superseded by 
some incapable youth of the civil service, the condition of the 
people has suffered greatly by the change of rule. In Coorg, 
for instance, a fine, hardy race of mountaineers, cleanly and 
industrious, became demoralised in every way under the 
English. i Drunkenness, licentiousness, and lying, ' says a 
missionary, the Eev. Mr. Maegling, ' have greatly increased 
during the Company's reign. In former days, the native 
rulers suppressed drunkenness by summary and violent means ; 
now the government draws a large revenue from the sale of 
intoxicating liquors. In times past, the Eajah would now 
and then cut off a man's tongue or his head for having spoken 
a falsehood ; in these days, the man who lies most impudently 
and swears most fearlessly, often gains the cause.' 

On the other hand, in the far more important territory of 
Mysore, the people have greatly benefited by English rule. 
Delivered from their Moslem tyrants, Hyder Ali and Tippoo 
Saib, by Lord Wellesley, the country was again placed under 
its native Hindoo rulers and under British protection ; and 
Colonel Arthur Wellesley, aided by intelligent natives, ef- 
fected great improvements by encouraging agriculture, making 
roads, and preserving peace and order. And now, with our 
more modern appliances, and under the rule of its English 
commissioner, Mysore is said to be greatly prospering. 

Since, by the conquest of the Mysore in 1799, South India 
ceased to be the chief scene of warfare, and agitation was 
thenceforward transferred to the north - west, Madras has 
been comparatively quiet, and occupied with its own concerns ; 
but, although it has been called ' The Sleepy Hollow of 
India,' it has, in many directions, especially in the means of 
education and in public works, been in advance of the other 
presidencies. 



MADRAS. 285 

Chief Towns of Madras. 

The city of Madras stands on an exposed part of the 
Coromandel coast, its fortress of Fort George being only a few 
yards from the sea. The furious surf and strong currents 
make landing dangerous, and the absence of any harbour 
renders it a most inconvenient trading port. The principal 
part of the town is built close to the shore, and is called Black 
Town, from being inhabited chiefly by natives, and, although 
it has good streets, is dirty in the extreme, and especially 
liable to cholera. The houses of the Europeans stand farther 
back from the beach, and are mostly pleasant detached resi- 
dences of one story high, surrounded by shady gardens and 
hedges of bamboo and prickly pear. There is less variety of 
race here than in Calcutta, although it is supposed to be the 
most populous city in India, the average density at the last 
census being 26,666 persons to a square mile. The number 
of Europeans, besides those employed officially or on the 
railways, is very small. Madras has a municipal association. 

Other towns of note in Madras are Calicut, the capital of 
Malabar, where Vasco -di Gania first touched. Tanjore, known 
chiefly for its great pagoda or pyramidal Hindoo temple. 
Arcot, former capital of the Carnatic, memorable from Lord 
Olive's victory over the Eajah Sahib in 1751. JSfellore, where 
Roman coins of the second century have been discovered 
beneath the ruins of a Hindoo temple. Trichinopoly, noted 
for its hardware, cutlery, jewellery, and cheroots. Chicali, for 
its muslin manufacture. 

The Madras Presidency had, in 1862, exclusive of the 
recently-annexed districts, a population of 23,127,855. It is 
ruled by a Lieutenant-Governor, aided by a Legis- g. overn . 
lative Council of Europeans and natives. Here,' as menfc > &c - 
in Bengal, the army is being reduced, and an organised native 
police is taking the place of the regular troops. 

The first English church in India was erected at Fort St. 
George, by the Governor of Madras, in 1680. The bishopric 



286 BRITISH INDIA. 

of Madras was founded in 1835. The present number of 
clergy is 141. Madras is the chief station in South India for 
the Church Missionary Society. 

The chief educational establishments are the university, 
Madrissa College, medical and civil engineering colleges, a 
school of industrial art, with normal and village schools under 
government inspection. To encourage the farming class, 
cattle-shows have recently been established, while local news- 
papers and district printing-presses, botanic gardens, museums, 
asylums, and dispensaries, are the fruits of peace and a more 
settled rule. 

A line of railway has already been opened 410 miles from 
Madras to Bagpoor. 

PUNJAUB. 

The Punjaub, Punjab, or Country of the Five Eivers — an- 
nexed to British India in 1849, after the second Sikh war under 
Lord Gough, and until 1861 included in the Presidency of 
Bengal — is a large triangular region forming the northern 
plain of the Indus, and extending from the foot of the Hima- 
layas to the confluence of the Indus with the Chenaub. It is 
a rice-yielding, well-watered land, for the most part 1,000 
feet above the sea-level ; producing wheat far more than 
enough for its own consumption, and favourable to the growth 
of the sugar-cane. The five rivers — the Pentapotamia of the 
Greeks — which drain the land, viz. : the Sutlej, Beas, Eavee, 
Chenaub and Jhilum, have all classic associations, and the 
longest of them, the Sutlej, has been made memorable in 
our own times by the struggle between Sikhs and English, 
which took place on its banks. Hindoos and Sikhs form the 
bulk of the population, and Mohammedans predominate in and 
about Delhi. The Sikhs, so lately our foes, are now peace- 
able and contented subjects of the British Queen. 

Under English rule, the country has been divided into ten 
districts, which in 1862 numbered a population of 14,794,611 ; 
viz. : — 



PUNJAUB. 287 

Delhi Umritsur 

Hissar Rawal Plndee 

Trans- Sttteej States Peshawar 

Cis-Sutlej States Derajat 

Lahore Mooltan. 

Besides these, there are many small states near Delhi, and 
in the Cis and Trans- Sutlej territories, more or less under 
the control of the Lieutenant-Governor. Some of the chief- 
tains, although acknowledged British subjects, hold high rank 
as all but independent sovereigns. Thus the Eajah of Puttiala, 
in the Cis-Sutlej state, is a member of the Legislative Council 
at Calcutta, and takes his seat by order of precedence next to 
the Governor-General. 

$Chief Towns. 

Lahore, capital of the Punjaub, on the river Eavee, came 
into the hands of the British in 1849, after the final defeat of 
the Sikhs. It was long the seat of government of the suc- 
cessive dynasties that have ruled in the Punjaub — Arab, 
Tartar, and Hindoo- Sikhs. It is still a large town ; its many 
ancient tombs and mosques with their domes and minarets 
giving it an imposing appearance from a distance, although 
otherwise it is meanly built and with narrow streets. Many 
of the chieftains and nobles belonging to the old Sikh monarchy 
still reside at Lahore and the neighbourhood, and have 
become so ambitious of intellectual culture, that although 
their late great ruler and prince, Eunjeet Sing, was content to 
keep his royal accounts with a notched stick, they have pe- 
titioned the Governor-General to found a college at Lahore 
for the benefit of their children ; and accordingly, an institu- 
tion has been opened, consisting of a higher school for the 
sons of those who are eligible for presentation at the Gover- 
nor's durbar, or ceremonial court, and of a lower school open 
to all ranks. 

Delhi, the capital of the province of Delhi, was, according 
to tradition, founded by Delu 300 years B.C., and once stood 
on the left bank of the Jumna, covering an area of 20 square 
miles. The present city was founded by the Mogul Emperor, 



288 BRITISH INDIA. 

Shah. Jehan, the grandson of Akbar, who in 1631 built the 
Mogul palace, and, among other useful works, excavated a well 
out of the solid rock, whence, by means of complicated 
machinery, water was raised from a great depth to a succes- 
sion of reservoirs, which filled a pond sufficient for the supply 
of the city. In 1738 Delhi was sacked by Nadir Shah, the 
Persian invader of Hindostan, who slaughtered 30,000 of its 
inhabitants, and carried off thirty millions in money, besides 
all the gold and jewels that could be wrung from the people 
by torture. The city was from early times a place of con- 
siderable trade, especially in Cashmere shawls, jewellery, and 
ivory - carved work, and it remained the residence of the 
Mogul emperors until 1788, when the town was captured by 
the Eohillas, a neighbouring tribe, and the Great Mogul was 
taken prisoner and blinded by one of their chiefs. In 
1803, Lord Lake, commander of the Bengal army, took pos- 
session of Delhi and the territory, rescued and protected the 
emperor, and assigned him lands for his maintenance. From 
henceforth the Moguls became merely nominal sovereigns, 
and under the title of Kings of Delhi were pensioned and 
protected by the British Government, until the mutiny of 
1857-8, when Delhi was besieged, captured, and pillaged by 
the English, and the last of the kings of the House of Tamer- 
lane, Mirza Jewan Bakht, was banished to British Burmah, and 
died at Eangoon, October 11, 1862. 

Mooltan has been a strongly-fortified place ever since the 
time of Alexander's invasion, and is now the third city in the 
Punjaub for commercial importance. It was taken by the 
British in 1849. 

Amritsw*, or Umritsur, was the sacred city of the Sikhs, and 
is now the richest trading city in Northern India, having large 
manufactures of cottons, shawls, and silks, and an extensive 
traffic with Central India. 

The population of the Punjaub in 1862 was about 
15,000,000, averaging about 157 to the square mile. In 
trade and general advancement the Punjaub is said to be 



punjaub. 289 

the most progressive of our recent acquisitions. So late as 
1856, seven million quarters of wheat were rotting in the 
plains for want of the means of transit ; but now the railway 
has taken the place of the bullock-carts and open boats, and 
has made an outlet for the produce and merchandise of this 
rich district. The Punjaub Eailway was opened for traffic 
in March 1862, and runs through a thickly-peopled fertile 
Sikh country for 249 miles, thus connecting the great towns 
of Delhi, Umritsur, Lahore, and Moultan, and joining the 
river navigation which is to connect the Punjaub with the 
port of Kurrachee. 

Education is reported to be making satisfactory progress. 
The Government schools number 1,982, with an average 
daily attendance, in 1860, of 42,030 pupils. In the Delhi 
school, founded by Nawab Fuzl Ali, English is taught, and 
the instruction is sufficiently liberal to qualify students for 
University examination. Umritsur also has schools on a 
liberal plan. 

A Lieutenant-Governor administers the affairs of the Pun- 
jaub, and, to the great satisfaction of the native upper classes, 
many of the Punjaub chiefs have been invested with a share 
of the jurisdiction in the revenue and magisterial depart- 
ments. 

The police of the Punjaub consists of a mounted patrol of 
3,400 men, and a well-organised urban force. Guarding as it 
does our most extensive and dangerous frontier, the Punjaub 
requires a large military force, and of late the chief strength 
of our Indian empire has been gravitating towards this pro- . 
vince. At Simlah, near the eastern boundary, there is a 
second English court, and a Calcutta in miniature ; and it has 
been a question whether the seat of supreme government may 
not ultimately be transferred from the east to this remote 
district in the north-west. 

NORTH-WEST PROVINCES. 

The British regulation districts, called the North- West Pro- 
vinces, are a semicircular region of precisely the area of the 

u 



290 BRITISH INDIA. 

United Kingdom, extending from the Punjaub to the Bengal 
Presidency, and including the country of the Doab, which lies 
between the rivers Ganges and Jumna, and some other districts 
watered by these streams. These provinces were formerly part 
of the Bengal Presidency, and were sometimes called the Sub- 
Presidency of Agra ; but in 1861 they were erected into a 
separate presidency under a Lieutenant-Governor. They are 
divided into the five districts of Meerut, Eohilcund, Agra, 
Allahabad, and Benares, a densely-peopled region of about 
418 persons to the square mile, and in which the Hindoos are 
as six to one of the Mohammedans and other classes. Besides 
these Provinces there are non-regulation districts under the 
same government : some, as Kumaon, at the foot of the 
Himalayas ; others, such as Ajmeer, Jubbulpoor, and Nemaur, 
in Central India. 

Chief Towns. 

The seat of government is Agra, once capital of the Mogul 
Empire, and taken by the English in the Mahratta war of 
1803. It contains the beautiful mausoleum of Shah Jehan, 
the Taj Mahal, built of white marble and inlaid with gems, 
which is said to have employed 20,000 men for twenty-two 
years to erect. 

Benares is a large city on the Ganges, from earliest times 
the holy city of the Hindoos, and still considered by them the 
most sacred place in the world. It is now a busy commercial 
town, the residence of many rich diamond dealers and native 
bankers. 

Allahabad is another of the sacred cities of the Hindoos. 
It stands at the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna, and is 
said to be visited annually by as many as 200,000 pilgrims. 
It is a principal military depot of the English, and it was 
proposed after the mutinies to transfer to this town the seat of 
government. 

Meerut is the head-quarters of the Bengal Artillery, and 
is terribly memorable as the scene of the first outbreak of 
the mutiny of 1857. 



OUDE. 291 

Hitherto (Eeport of 1860, 1861), none of the native chiefs 
in the North-West Provinces have been allowed a share in the 
administration, or have had any post of honour conceded to 
them ; which want of liberality, the Lieutenant-Governor con- 
siders, has placed the Provinces in a far worse position than 
Oude and the Punjaub, where a more generous policy towards 
the natives has been adopted with the greatest success. With 
respect to education, the Provinces contain about 10,000 
Government schools, and more than 6,000 schools managed 
by natives, who, the Eeport states, seem anxious to secure to 
their children the means of learning English. Several of the 
large towns, Benares, Agra, and others, have colleges where 
students are prepared for the Calcutta University. 

The constabulary of the North-West Provinces consists of 
23,000 men, that is, an average of three policemen to a square 
mile. 

OUDE. 

The kingdom of Oude lies to the north of the Ganges, 
and is encircled by the North-West Provinces, excepting 
on the north side, where it is bounded by Nepaul. It is a 
healthy, fertile district, rather larger than Scotland, and forms 
part of the great Gangetic plain. 

Oude was formerly a soubah, or subordinate province of the 
Mogul Empire, but by different treaties between its viziers and 
the East India Company, it became a British dependency, and 
retained only a nominal allegiance to the Emperor; this 
allegiance was renounced in 1819, and its reigning prince 
assumed the title of King of Oude. In 1856, the last King of 
Oude, Wagid Ali, was deposed by Lord Dalhousie, on account 
of his incapacity for governing, and his kingdom was annexed 
to Britain. The rebellion followed quickly upon this annexa- 
tion, and Oude became a frightful scene of Hindoo retaliation. 
Happily, those days of carnage and horror have now given 
place to a time of peace, in which a contented recognition of 
British rule is accompanied with much material benefit to the 
country. 

Oude is divided into the districts of Baraitch, Lucknow, 

172 



292 BRITISH INDIA. 

Khyrabad, and Bainswarra. It has a population of about 
8.000,000, or about 282 to the square mile ; in which Hindoos 
largely predominate. 

Chief Towns. 

The former capital of Oude was the town of Oude, believed 
to be the most ancient city in India, having been founded 
about 2,000 years before Christ. The Hindoos regard it as 
a sacred city, and as the birth-place of their god Eamah. 

Lucknow, the present capital, is a large and populous city, 
extending four miles on the bank of the river Goomtie. It 
became a royal residence in 1775, and, after the deposition of 
the king by Lord Dalhousie, it was here that the keenest ven- 
geance was ready to manifest itself, after the outbreak of the 
mutiny, against the English, who had abolished the court upon 
which much of the trade of the place depended, degraded their 
native nobility, and loaded the citizens with taxes. And here 
it was that, in the fatal summer of 1857, the British garrison 
held its own for three months in the midst of a hostile popu- 
lation of about 1,000,000 in the town itself, of whom nearly 
half were soldiers or armed citizens. In the defence of the 
garrison, and subsequent capture of this place, Sir Henry Law- 
rence, General Havelock, Captain William Peel, and Major 
Hodson lost their lives, and to Sir Colin Campbell (Lord Clyde) 
belongs the glory of relieving Lucknow, and of finally sub- 
jugating it in March 1858. 

Cawnpore, about thirty miles south of Lucknow, also on 
the river bank, has become known to us chiefly through the 
horrors of the war, and its name is one from which English- 
men recoil with loathing, since, unlike Lucknow, it is less 
associated with heroic deeds than with the murder and agonies 
of the defenceless. 

Cawnpore was made a station for British subsidiary troops in 
1775, who were maintained at the expense of the Oude Govern- 
ment. In the June of 1857 the native troops attacked their 
English officers, who, with their families, took refuge in two 
long barracks, which stood exposed on all sides in the midst 



oude. 293 

of an extensive plain. Here for three weeks the assailants, 
headed by Nana Sahib, were kept at bay. This Nana Sahib 
was a native chief, who had been disappointed as to the con- 
tinuance of a pension by the English Government, and who 
was thus secretly our enemy, although so trusted by the Eng- 
lish authorities that they had placed him in charge of the local 
treasury. The miseries of that siege — in the midst of a 
summer heat so intense that it has been said muskets exploded 
of themselves, with no water except what could be drawn from 
an exposed well at the cost of many lives, with food none but 
flour and split peas, and horses and dogs procured by sallies 
of the garrison — ended by General Wheeler being induced to 
surrender, on the Nana's promise of safe conveyance of the 
besieged to Allahabad. As soon, however, as the boats were 
filled with the English, the troops of Nana Sahib fired upon 
them from the banks ; all the men were shot or drowned, and 
what women and children remained were carried off to a 
place of confinement, called the Sevada Kothee. The Sepoy 
guards of this place were ordered to fire upon them, but re- 
fused with horror ; whereupon an abandoned woman, who 
had influence with the Nana, enticed a few butchers and vil- 
lagers to do the fiendish work. Those widowed ladies and 
their children were all hewn to pieces, and their bodies thrown 
into a well. Over this well British soldiers have since erected 
a tablet to their memory. But this deed of blood, although 
the act of a single traitor and his wretched accomplices, 
became the signal for far more extensive deeds of blood on the 
part of the English, at which our nation ought to blush. The 
cry of ' the ladies and the babies ! ' was one of the watchwords 
which roused English soldiers to a retaliation which was 
nothing else than wholesale butchery ; Sepoys by thousands 
were wantonly hung, shot down, or blown from cannon, until 
the very executioners were disgusted with their office ; and 
even our soldiers were urged not to be too scrupulous in re- 
venging upon the women and children of India the wrongs of 
our countrywomen at Cawnpore. 



294 BRITISH INDIA. 

After the restoration of peace in 1859-60, the British Go- 
Govern- vernment resumed the administration in Oude, which 
ment, &c. j^d been interrupted by the mutiny and war, and 
the first acts of the Queen's Viceroy, Lord Canning, were 
judicious and conciliatory. He held a Court, or Durbar, at 
which were present the chief talookdars, or native landowners 
of Oude, and distributed to them title-deeds of their estates, 
which confirmed to them their old landed rights, of which they 
had been deprived by the British Commissioners ; and at the 
same time he invested each talookdar with the function of a 
magistrate on his own estate, and so made them co-operators 
with the English authorities in the promotion of social order 
and improvement. Thus, c in Oude, for the first time in Anglo- 
Indian history,' says Mr. Martin,* in quoting from the Eeport 
of the Oude Commissioner for 1860, ' the administration is con- 
ducted on the great principle of recognising a powerful landed 
aristocracy as an important element of national prosperity. The 
conduct of the new magistrates has been almost without excep- 
tion exemplary, and this is no doubt attributable in a great de- 
gree to their having been treated with friendliness and confidence 
instead of with jealousy and distrust. The relations between 
the native aristocracy and the servants of Government are here 
on a freer and kindlier footing than in most parts of India.' 

The same right principle has been applied to the re-for- 
mation of the police system in Oude. From early times each 
village had its own rural police, its chokeydars, or watchmen, 
whose office was hereditary, and who patrolled the village 
night and day, and guarded the outlying crops. When the 
English came into possession, the chokeydars were deposed, 
and a well-salaried government official was placed over several 
villages together ; but he performed his office so ill that petty 
theft and other minor offences became vastly on the increase. 
The Government has now had the good sense to reinstate the 
old chokeydars, who are, as formerly, appointed and maintained 
by the talookdars. 

* British India, p. 182. 



CENTRAL PROVINCES. 295 

The means adopted to introduce the Christian religion into 
Oude have been less judicious, since in Lucknow itself an 
Episcopalian church has been built in the heart of a Moham- 
medan population, and paid for by heavy fines imposed upon 
the conquered people, whose king we have supplanted. 

Good schools have been established in several of the towns, 
and a large college, the Martiniere, for the children of the 
aristocracy ; besides which horticultural gardens and cattle 
markets have been opened, and every inducement held out 
to the talookdars to cultivate cotton and other staples of 
agriculture. 

CENTRAL PROVINCES. 

The Central Provinces, lately placed under the separate 
rule of a Chief Commissioner, consist of Berar or Nagpore, 
and the Saugor and Nerbudda territories ; a large inland 
region of elevated, well-drained land, about equally dis- 
tant from Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, and one of the 
most healthy and fertile portions of India. Here are the 
famous black-soil districts so favourable to the growth of 
cotton. The soil is formed by the decomposition of trap- 
rock and basalt, and sometimes, as in North Berar, is 120 feet 
deep, and composed of a sort of adhesive mud, which has 
such an extraordinary attraction for water that it needs no 
irrigation. 

Nagpore was formerly included in the Berar province ; but 
a large portion of Berar was transferred to the Nizam of 
Hyderabad at the close of the Mahratta war, and the rajahs of 
the remaining part were called Maharajahs of Nagpore. The 
Berar districts being much desired by the Company on 
account of their cotton fields, Lord Dalhousie persuaded the 
Nizam into a temporary cession of them in 1853 in return for 
certain privileges. The temporary cession has been made 
a permanent one, and Nagpore was also annexed by Lord 
Dalhousie in 1854 on the plea of ' lapse of legal heirs.' 

The population are mostly Hindoos and aboriginal Ghonds, 
with a few Mohammedans, The capital, Nagpore {City of 



296 BRITISH INDIA. 

Serpents), is a straggling town, about seven miles in circum- 
ference ; but contains silk and cotton manufactories, and has 
a large transit trade. The country, it is said, is now first 
beginning, after years of neglect, to nourish under good 



government. 



BRITISH BURMAH. 



British Burmah consists of the three provinces of Arracan, 
Pegu, and Tenasserim ; extending along the east coast of the 
Bay of Bengal for 900 miles, and having an area rather 
larger than Great Britain, and a scanty population of nearly 
2,000,000. Arracan and Tenasserim were ceded to England 
by the King of Ava at the close of the first Burmese war 
under Lord Amherst in 1827, and Pegu was annexed by Lord 
Dalhousie after the second Burmese war in 1852. The Pro- 
vinces have been since united into a separate State under a 
Lieutenant-Governor. 

The country, watered by the Irawaddy, is abundant in 
rice and timber, cutch and petroleum, all which produce is 
exported largely from its three harbours of Eangoon, Moul- 
mein, and Akyab. At present it has the disadvantage of 
possessing no proper boundary, and of being exposed to con- 
stant attack from marauders in the hilly districts of the east ; 
and probably this is the only part of India where further con- 
quest may be achieved with advantage, until the wh5le of 
Burmah becomes English soil. 

In the natives of British Burmah, the English have first 
come into contact with the Indo-Chinese race and Buddhist 
faith. The bulk of the population are the Burmese, who 
appear to be an originally Chinese people changed from the 
pure type by intermarriage with the Hindoo mountain tribes. 
The Chinese themselves have settled here in great numbers, 
and carry on a brisk trade in Eangoon. There are more 
English settlers on the coast in proportion to the population 
than in any other part of India, except the presidency towns. 
Under its present rule, British Burmah is, next to the Pun- 
jaub, the most progressive of the non-regulation provinces. 



BRITISH BURMAH. 297 

The Burmese in general are better educated than any other 
Asiatic race, being trained in the Buddhist monasteries, each 
of which has a school attached. They assimilate better with 
the European than the Hindustani races — are less cringing and 
more English in their habits. Christian education is in the 
hands of missionaries, who have been chiefly successful among 
the Karens, a wild race in the mountain districts, many 
thousands of whom have been civilised and converted, and 
who even support their Christian teachers, send their children 
to school, and take the temperance pledge. 

The capital of Rangoon extends for about two miles on the 
left bank of the Irawaddy, and is regularly laid out CMef 
in streets, the principal one being named after Lord Town. 
Dalhousie, the founder of the town. When first taken by 
the English, Rangoon was little more than a collection of wood 
huts thatched with leaves, and, in consequence of the readiness 
with which these huts catch fire, the town has been burnt 
down and rebuilt more than once since its occupation by the 
British, so that at last an order has been issued prohibiting 
the erection of any more wooden houses. About two miles 
from the Custom-house wharf is the small wooden house 
where the last of the Moguls, a bed-ridden old man, ended his 
troubled life. In the neighbourhood of the capital, pine-apple 
plantations cover hundreds of acres, unenclosed by any fence, 
since the fruit is too cheap to be worth stealing. 

But the glory of Rangoon is the great Shwe Dagon Pagoda, 
which stands about two miles from the town, and is one of the 
most celebrated objects of worship in all the Indo-Chinese 
countries. It is an enormous conical pyramid 820 feet high, 
partially gilt, with a rim round the base, and ascending in a 
slightly curved outline to the Tsein-phoo, or Dia?nond-bud, at 
the top. The Bhuddists believe it to have been built over the 
relics of the last Bhudd, the sage Gaudama, and among the 
relics are four hairs from his head. The date assigned to its 
foundation is 588 b. c. ; but it has gradually been enlarged by 
successive layers, marking different periods. 



298 BRITISH INDIA. 



PROTECTED NATIVE STATES. 

No very precise information has hitherto been furnished 
respecting these States, which are ruled by native princes and 
chieftains, under the political supremacy and protection of the 
British Government, and which are estimated to contain a 
population of about 40,000,000. The States have been 
enumerated as follows : — 

NAME LOCALITY 

GrWALIOR ♦ . -\ 

Allee Mohtjn, and other small' States ." f Central India " 

Bhopal . . . . . ,J 

Rajpoot States, 15 in number . . Bajpootana. 

Dhar Malwa. 

_ ■.■-,! o., f Sauqor and Nerbudda 

Rewah, and 5 other States . . | Territory. 

Bttndelctjnd States, 32 . . . . Bundelcund. 

Dholpoor Near Chumbul River. 

Bhurtpoor Near Agra. 

Rampoor ....... Rohilcund. 

Cashmeer North of Punjaub. 

Nepatjl and Sikhim North of Bengal. 

Cooch Behar, Cossya, and G- arrow Hells N.E. of Bengal. 

Tipperah North of Chittagong. 

Hyderabad The Beccan. 

*Cl t ttack Mahals, &c Orissa. 

The whole area of British India is about 1,500,000 square 
miles. It extends about 1,800 miles from the north-east 
extremity of the Punjaub to Cape Comorin; and about 1,900 
miles from Kurrachee at the mouth of the Indus, to Rangoon 
at the mouth of the Irawaddy ; and has a coast-line of nearly 
4,500 miles. 

* Martin's British India. 



299 



CHAPTEE VI. 

GOVERNMENT, &C. 

The local government of British India, since 1859, has been 
vested in a Governor-G eneral or Viceroy of India, and G. overn _ 
Legislative Council, resident at Calcutta; and the ment - 
general administration in a Secretary of State for India, with a 
council of fifteen members, nominated by the Crown, in London. 
The Governor- General is appointed by the Crown ; his term of 
office is about six years ; his salary, 25,000/. per annum, with 
a palace and establishment at Calcutta. The Legislative 
Council, first brought into operation by Lord Canning in 1862, 
is composed of European and native gentlemen ; salary of each 
member being 5,000Z. per annum. They are nominated by the 
Governor- General for a term of two years. 

The Governors of Madras and Bombay, and Lieutenant- 
Governors of the other large provinces, are appointed by the 
Crown, and are empowered to nominate ^each their own Legis- 
lative Council : such assemblies being under regulations similar 
to those of the Supreme Council at Calcutta. 

It belongs to the duty of the Governor to make occasional 
official tours through his province ; to hold Durbars, or cere- 
monial courts for the presentation of natives of distinction, to 
inspect public works, visit schools, gaols, and other Government 
institutions, and to exercise a general supervision over all 
Government functionaries. 

The higher departments of the Government service are 
conducted by Europeans, who constitute what is called the 
Covenanted Civil Service, comprising about 800 members, at 
salaries from 300/. to 8,000/. per annum. These offices, which 
used to be monopolised by a few families belonging to the 
Company, are now open to all Her Majesty's natural-born 
subjects above eighteen and under twenty-three years old, l of 



300 BBITISH INDIA. 

sound health and good moral character;' elections being 
decided by public examinations in English composition and 
literature, the Hindustani language and literature, Sanscrit 
and Arabic, natural and moral sciences, &c. 

There is also an l Uncovenanted Civil Service,' numbering 
many thousand members, who are not subject to the same 
rigid examination, and who consist of both natives and 
Europeans. 

The total revenue of India is (1863) 45,000,000Z. It is 
reckoned to be 60 per cent, more than it was ten 
years ago. The largest source of revenue is from land 
assessment ; other chief sources are, taxes on liquors, drugs, 
&c, customs, salt, opium, stamps, post-office, taxes on houses 
and trades. The average pressure of taxation is less than 
four-and-sixpence a head. 

The estimated population of India, according to the infor- 

mation received in London, March 1862, from the 

Calcutta Government, is about 156,000,000 British 

subjects, and about 40,000,000 under native rulers in the 

protected States ; thus making a total of nearly 200,000,000 

people under British control. 

In 1862, the European army in India numbered 73,586, 
and the regular native troops 120,000. The chief 
strength of the army is now on the north-west fron- 
tier. The cost of the European force was about 8,000, 000Z. 
per annum. The annual cost of a European soldier in India 
is estimated at 110Z. ; that of a Sepoy, 10Z. Sikhs now form 
a large proportion of the native army. 

There is no State Church in India. Episcopalianism is the 
prevailing form of Christianity, but other sects are 
Ctoche" 1 equally protected by Government. Hindoo worship 
is subject to no restrictions, except in the cases of 
suttees, or human sacrifices, and other practices abhorrent to 
humanity. The number of nominal Christians is 106,000. 
Of these, Southern India contains above 80,000, most of whom 
are descendants of converts made in the last century by 
Schwartz and other zealous missionaries. There are now 420 



GOVERNMENT. 301 

European missionaries and 150 ordained native ministers in 
India connected with Protestant societies. 

English civilisation has made itself especially visible in the 
construction of roads in India, some of which are _, „ 

7 . Railways, 

more than a thousand miles long. Eailways are Telegraphs, 

now taking their place. There are now (1863) 

2,528 miles of railway open, and, by another year, the great 

triangular railway connecting Madras with Bombay, Bombay 

with Delhi, and Delhi with Calcutta, it is expected, will be 

completed. 

The telegraphic system extends over 11,000 miles, and 150 
telegraphic offices are open. 

India has one General Post Office, and about 1,000 post 
offices and agencies. The postage of a single letter is lower 
than in any other country, being half an anna — less than a 
penny. 



302 



CHAPTER VII. 



CEYLON. 



Few spots upon the face of the earth have been the mark of 
such general admiration as the beautiful tropical island of 
Ceylon — that ' pearl upon the brow of India,' as the Hindoo 
poets call it. The various names which it has borne at dif- 
ferent periods show the extent to which the island has been 
known by the nations of the earth. Its native name was 
Sinhala (dwelling of lions), whence its present name of 
Ceylon ; to the Greeks and Eomans it was Taprobane (copper- 
coloured), to the Brahmins, Lanka (resplendent), to the Arabs 
Serendib, and to the Portuguese Selan. 

The first accounts of the island were brought to Europe by 
Onesicritus, Alexander's general, who commanded an explor- 
ing expedition from the Indus to the Persian Gulf; but from 
times far more remote than this, Ceylon appears to have 
formed the point where the merchants of the Eed Sea and 
Persian Gulf, meeting those of China and the Oriental Archi- 
pelago, effected the exchange of commodities between the East 
and the West. It is tolerably certain that Point de Galle, on 
the south-west, was the Tarshish of the Scriptures which 
supplied the Phoenicians with 'gold and silver, ivory, apes, 
and peacocks ; ' these three last being found in the island in 
great abundance, and the names by which they are designated 
in the Bible being identical with the native Tamil names 
which they bear at the present day. In ancient) records 
Ceylon is famous as a centre of trade to the Arabs and 
Eomans, of pilgrims' visits to the Chinese and Burmese, of 
geographical curiosity to mediaeval voyagers, before the series 
of adventurous expeditions began on the part of almost every 
civilised European nation, which ended with the settlements, 
first of the Portuguese, and finally of our own countrymen. 



NATUKAL FEATUKES OF CEYLON. 303 

To the British Empire, with its present extent of colonies, the 
value of its central position remains as great as formerly to the 
world in general, since it is evidently adapted for the junction 
of telegraphic and commercial intercourse between the Red 
Sea, the Indian provinces, the Eastern Straits, and Australasia. 
Until lately it has been taken for granted that Ceylon was 
a geological continuation of the continent of India, structure of 
Between the island of Manaar, close to the north-west the Island ' 
coast of Ceylon, and the island of Rameseram, adjacent to India, 
there is a barrier or causeway, named Adam's Bridge, which 
crosses the whole channel in such a manner as to leave no 
means of transit between Palk's Bay on the right and the 
Gulf of Manaar, except the narrow passage of Paumbam, next 
to India ; and this passage is of such shallow and varying 
depth (being at present only 10 feet), as naturally to suggest 
the idea, also favoured by the traditions of the natives, that 
Ceylon has been rendered separate only by some violent 
natural convulsion. But the result of examination has been 
to show a contrary fact, highly corroborated by the very 
distinct character of both vegetable and animal species from 
those in India. It appears that the barrier of Adam's 
Bridge, although now existing as a sharpened ridge of parallel 
ledges of conglomerate and sandstone, where it has risen 
above the surface of the sea, rests beneath only upon a bank 
of soft sand, of the same character as the drifts that are heaped 
along the shore, consisting of alluvial deposits brought down 
by the impetuous current setting in southwards the greater 
part of the year from the Coromandel coast, arrested by the 
coral reefs at Point Pedro, and thence spreading till they 
accumulate at the ridge, where they are stopped by the oppo- 
site current. 

According to this geological correction, although Ceylon, in 
its present configuration, shaped like a pear, appears to hang 
from India by this barrier as its stalk, the true notion of it is 
as an originally circular mountainous region, of gneiss forma- 
tion, rising into peaks about 8,000 feet above the sea, of which 
Adam's Peak is the most famous : which region, having been 



304 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

heaved up by volcanic action out of the sea, has thence ex- 
tended itself, partly by the disintegration and diffusion of its 
own substance, and partly by the coral growths and alluvial 
accretions which now form the maritime belt of lowlands ; 
shelving out gradually on the north and north-west, but on 
the eastern coast worn into a bold and occasionally rocky line, 
by the current that sweeps round it from the Bay of Bengal. 
Successive layers of soil, composed of agglutinated sand in 
which marine shells are thickly imbedded, show that the 
land has been for ages, and probably still is, rising slowly out 
of the sea. Immediately inland from Point de Galle, the sur- 
face-soil rests on a stratum of decomposing coral ; and farther 
north at Madampe, the shells of pearl oysters and other 
bivalves are turned up by the plough more than ten miles 
from the sea. 

The minerals of Ceylon are iron, tin, copper, lead, quick- 
silver, nitre, plumbago, salt, and coal. 

The extreme length of Ceylon, from Point Pedro to Dondera 
Head, is 271-^- miles ; its greatest width, from Colombo 
to Sangemankande, 137J, making an area of 25,742 
miles, or about one-sixth smaller than Ireland. Yet within 
this small compass there is a remarkable variety of climate. 
The heat consequent upon a latitude of from only 6 J — 9° N. of 
the equator, is modified by the action of two monsoons. The 
north-east monsoon, setting strongly from the Coromandel coast 
from November till February, varies by its refreshing cool- 
ness the hot and dry climate of the eastern side of the island, 
and especially of the northern peninsula of Jaffna, which has. 
a mean temperature of 90°. The south-west of the island, on 
the other hand, being subject to the monsoon that from April 
to September brings with it the humid vapours of the Indian 
Ocean, has a climate moist and enervating, and similar to 
that of the coast of Malabar. Just before the arrival of this 
monsoon, the heat in these lowlands becomes oppressive to a 
degree that is almost intolerable to Europeans. The flat 
ground opens in chinks, verdure dries up, and the hollows are 
filled with a floating mirage. And then, with the approach of 



TANKS OF CEYLON. 305 

the monsoon, ushered in by overcast skies and rising banks 
of clouds, come terrific storms, whose overpowering grandeur 
can scarcely be conceived by the imagination. With sudden 
lightnings that flash among the hills, and sheet over the sea, 
and an explosion of crushing thunder, the monsoon bursts 
upon the thirsty land, not in showers or partial torrents, but in 
a wide deluge, that in the course of a few hours overtops the 
river banks, and spreads its inundations over every level 
plain.* 

But the part of the island where the climate is truly delicious 
is the country of the hills, the invaluable resource for Euro- 
peans, and now of easy access to them, since a practicable road 
has been opened, originally designed for military purposes, 
between Colombo and Kandy, by Sir Edward Barnes, in 1820. 
In this glorious region, where the grandeur of Alpine scenery 
is enhanced by the gorgeousness of tropical vegetation, there 
is found an invigorating freshness of atmosphere, that is said 
to have a magical effect in restoring constitutions enfeebled by 
the oppressiveness of life in the lowlands. Even in the latter, 
moreover, there has been found so great a sanitary effect from 
cultivation, that it is believed, when draining and clearing 
from jungle have been sufficiently carried out, the island gene- 
rally will be as healthy as England. At Colombo, Europeans 
sometimes live to the age of 100. 

Under these conditions of soil and climate, the great problem 
of existence to the inhabitants of Ceylon lies in the 

. Tanks. 

equalization of their supply of water, distributed 
by nature in a mode so capricious, that while on one side of 
the island, or even on one side of a mountain, the care required 
is to guard against inundations, on the other it is to hoard and 
distribute the remaining store of water which they have pre- 
served. For this purpose has been the construction of those 
enormous tanks, whose remains still attest the wonderful per- 
severance, if not the mechanical skill, of the ancient Singhalese. 
One of these tanks, now in ruins at Horra-bora, is thus 

* See Sir J. Emerson Tennent's Ceylon. 
X 



306 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

described : * — i It is a stupendous work ; a stream flowing 
between the spurs of two hills, about 3 or 4 miles apart, has 
been intercepted by an artificial dam drawn across the valley 
where the hills approach, and the water thus confined is thrown 
back till it forms a lake, 8 or 10 miles long, by 3 or 4 wide, 
exclusive of narrow branches running behind spurs of the hills. 
The embankment is from 50 to 70 feet high, and about 200 
feet broad at the base. In order to form the sluices, they had 
the resolution to hollow out channels in the solid rock.' Still 
more astonishing, however, is the Kalaweva tank, between 
Anarajapoora and Dambool, taken by Pliny for a lake, 40 
miles in circumference, with an embankment 12 miles in ex- 
tent. These monstrous contrivances for artificial irrigation, as 
well as similar works of art for fortification and religious pur- 
poses, akin in their character to the Egyptian pyramids, appear 
to have had the same source ; namely, the employment of the 
hordes of a subjugated race, who were in the power of the 
conquering invaders. 

Ceylon is singularly rich in its vegetation, which more re- 
sembles that of the Eastern archipelago than of India. 
For instance, the nutmeg, which cannot be cultivated 
in Bengal, is here one of the exports. Timber, dye-woods, 
tobacco, rice and pepper, grow abundantly, but the most pro- 
fitable growth to the natives are the cocoa-nut trees, which 
they say will not grow out of the sound of the human voice, 
and every part of which, fruit, leaves, sap, and stem, is all 
turned to account. Many thousand acres of these trees have 
been planted artificially, besides the native groves of them, 
and crushing-mills have lately been set up for pressing oil from 
the nuts. Chief among the cocoa-palms is the majestic talissat, 
100 feet high, each leaf a semicircle of about 16 feet diameter ; 
and among the palm tribe are the areka, or betel-nut, con- 
stantly chewed by the natives, and the palmyra palm, yielding 
palm wine. In the north is the satin-wood tree, or Ceylon 
oak, the tamarind, and ebony. South and westward the 

* Tennent's Ceylon, vol. ii. p. 430. 



ANIMALS OF CEYLON. 307 

timber is larger and foliage darker, from the greater moisture, 
and here are brilliant flowering shrubs, and the cinnamon, with 
its polished leaves. On the east, peaches and other European 
fruits grow freely ; on the hills are the rhododendrons and tree- 
ferns, and lower down the banyans and figs, and the Ficus Re- 
ligiosa, or sacred. Bo-tree of the Buddhists, planted close to 
every temple ; one specimen of which is the oldest historical 
tree in the world, and the planting of it, 288 years before 
Christ, forms an epoch in the national chronicles. 

The animals of Ceylon bear a general resemblance to those 
of Southern India ? with some remarkable excep- 
tions. Thus the majestic Gaur, which inhabits the 
great forests of India, from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya, the 
tiger and wolf, the hysena and cheetah of Hindostan, are here 
unknown, and although deer of various kinds are abundant, 
for instance, the elk and fallow deer, neither the antelope nor 
gazelle are to be found. Monkeys are very numerous ; but 
there is the greatest difference between the vicious and repul- 
sive monkey of India and the graceful wanderoo of Ceylon. 
Squirrels and bats abound. Elephants inhabit chiefly the 
forests of the north and eastern provinces, and are very nu- 
merous. Bears, leopards, jackals, and mongrel dogs, of Euro- 
pean descent, are the chief animals of the savage kind. 

The myriads of birds and waterfowl make one of the marvels 
of the island. The multitudes of peafowl in the jungle hap- 
pily keep down the serpents, which, together with mosquitos, 
ticks, and, above all, land leeches, are the pests of the country. 

But the strangest phenomena are those fresh-water fish 
which in Ceylon and some other tropical regions have the sin- 
gular habit of hiding themselves in the earth in the dry season, 
and waiting there in a torpid state until the return of the mon- 
soons renews the streams. It is supposed that they bury 
themselves in the mud of the rice-fields upon the approach of 
the dry season, and become torpid with the heat, as other ani^ 
mals do with cold, while the earth hardens around them. The 
natives are quite accustomed to dig for fish in certain parts of 

x2 



308 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

the island, and it is singular that the fish they turn up are 
invariably full grown.* 

The early history of Ceylon is gathered from chronicles of 
History of feared Buddhists, drawn up by royal command, 
Settlement. an d f great antiquity. The original inhabitants ap- 
pear to have been a simple race of foresters, probably demon- 
worshippers, a branch of the same stock which first peopled 
the Deccan, and belonging to the lowest human type; the 
descendants of whom are the existing outcast tribes of Rodiyas 
and Veddas. In 543 B.C. a Hindu adventurer, Wijazo, with 
a band of Bengalese, made a descent on the island, and this 
superior race eventually drove the aborigines into the fastnesses 
of the Kandyan hills, and formed petty kingdoms in various 
parts of the country. In 307 B.C. one of their kings was con- 
verted by the prophet Mahindo to the Buddhist faith, and 
thenceforth Buddhism became the dominant religion, and throve 
upon the soil of Ceylon more than in any other country to 
which it extended. 

The Singhalese kings seem to have vied with each other in 
Singhalese tw0 things — the construction of the gigantic tanks 
Kings, already described, and the erection of temples to the 
honour of Buddha. The remains, in various places, of hol- 
lowed rock-temples ; of dagohas, or bell-shaped edifices on an 
enormous scale, designed for the enshrining of relics ; and of 
wiharas, or monasteries, attest the magnificence with which the 
worship was carried on. As specimens of these may be men- 
tioned the caves of Mihintala; the Ruanivelli dagoba, 270 feet 
high, erected in the second century B.C., in the ancient capital 
of Anarajapoora; and the Brazen Palace, in the same place, 
with its 1,000 chambers, supported upon what has been aptly 
called a ' world of columns.' 

In 207 B.C., the island began to suffer from the invasion of 
Malabars from the opposite mainland, and the Singhalese kings 
retired gradually before these new usurpers, until, by the end 
of the sixth century, the Malabars established themselves in 

* Sir Emerson Tennent's Ceylon. 



SETTLEMENT OF CEYLON. 309 

Ceylon, leaving little else than a nominal rule to the Singhalese 
kings. Meantime, another foreign race was becoming power- 
ful upon the coasts: the chief occupations of the people in 
the interior being the culture of rice and their religious rites, 
all the trade of the island was left to the Arabs or Moors, 
who exchanged the ivory and gems of Ceylon for foreign pro-' 
duce ; and these Moors increased so much in wealth and 
numbers, that probably Ceylon would have fallen under Islam 
sway if it had not been for the coming of the Portuguese in 
a.d. 1505. 

It was by accident that the Portuguese discovered the island. 
The Portuguese Viceroy of India despatched his son „ ± 

. J ■ i -i ■ Portuguese 

with a fleet to intercept the Moors with their cargoes Settlement, 
of spices from the Eastern Islands, and wandering in 
unknown seas, he was driven by a current into the harbour of 
Galle, where he found Moorish ships loading with elephants 
and cinnamon. He planted a cross on the shore, but the 
Moors prevented his gaining any footing in the island. 
Twelve years afterwards, however, w T hen the country was torn 
by internal wars, the Singhalese king purchased the military 
aid of the Portuguese for an annual tribute of 250,000 lbs. of 
cinnamon. Forthwith the Portuguese built a strong fort on 
the rocky beach of Colombo, and gradually subjected the 
whole of the maritime districts ; they joined in the contests of 
the interior, destroying native villages and Buddhist temples, 
until, in 1597, the native dominion was so weakened that the 
Emperor of Ceylon, on his deathbed, bequeathed his dominions 
to Pliilip II., and the Portuguese thus gained possession of the 
whole island, with the exception of Jaffna and Kandy, which 
still remained the capitals of independent states. The title of 
Don is still borne proudly by the descendants of many of the 
Singhalese, who were nominally converted to Christianity at 
this period, and received the title at their baptism. 

The Portuguese held possession 150 years, but their rule 
was marked by oppression and the most selfish ^ ll ^ h 
policy. For the benefit of the natives, they preached i602. 
Christ, sword in hand, and for their own benefit they kept 



310 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

up the price of cinnamon by annually burning all that was 
not wanted for their own trade; so that when the Dutch 
made their appearance as traders in Ceylon, in 1602, the King 
of Kandy joined in alliance with them, and after a fifty years' 
struggle, the Portuguese were expelled, and the Dutch 
remained masters of the sea-bord, and held a pacific though 
selfish sway over the island, until the invasion of the English 
in 1782. 

During the war with the French in India, the possession of 
■ ,. , Ceylon had become a desideratum as a harbour of 

English n n i 

Settlement, refuge for our troops ; and since Holland at that 

1782 • . 

time was joined with revolutionary France and Spain 
in 'the league of nations' against England, General Stuart, by 
order of the Government, attacked the Dutch in Ceylon, and 
wrested from them the sea-coast and the fortresses of Trinco- 
malee, Jaffhapatam, Colombo, and Galle ; which territory 
was ceded to the East India Company, and appended to the 
Madras Presidency. The Company's officials, however, excited 
the natives to revolt by their spirit of plunder and exaction, 
and Ceylon was therefore transferred to the Crown in 1798, 
and the Hon. F. North was sent out as first Governor. 

In 1815, the King of Kandy became so hateful to his sub- 
jects from his atrocious cruelties — such as compelling the wife 
of his prime minister to pound to death her own children in a 
mortar — that, at the invitation of the Kandian chiefs, the British 
joined them in dethroning him, and took possession of the 
whole island in 1815, and have retained it ever since. At 
first, both natives and British were joined in the administra- 
tion ; but a rebellion, which was crushed in a few months, 
having broken out against the English authority, the island 
was finally reduced to the rank of a British province, and all 
offices were henceforth filled by Englishmen. 

The period since 1815 has been peaceful, and has been 
devoted by the successive governors to the improvement of 
the country. Domestic slavery has been abolished, religious 
freedom secured, commerce encouraged, trading monopolies 
extinguished, and a legislative council established. Roads 



CEYLON. 311 

have been made, and railways are projected, and the electric 
telegraph, connecting India with Ceylon, now pierces the dense 
forests and tangled scrub — apparently to the satisfaction of 
troops of monkeys, which may often be seen swinging on the 
wires, while the elephants approve highly of the posts for 
rubbing their heavy sides against. 

Ceylon is divided into five provinces : Eastern, Western, 
Northern, Southern, and Central ; these again are p resent 
divided into districts. Condition. 

The chief towns are — Colombo, the capital; Kandy, the 
former capital ; Point de Galle, the chief port ; Calpentyn, 
Caltura, Jaffnapatam, Newerra Ellia, and Trincomalee, which 
last will probably be chosen as the future capital and seat of 
government. 

The population numbered at the last census 1,876,000. 
The native Singhalese compose the great body of the people, 
and chiefly inhabit Kandy and the south and west coast; 
Malabars or Tamils occupy the north and east and peninsula 
of Jaffnapatam. The Veddahs, or aborigines, dwell in an 
almost savage state, without habitations or clothing, in the 
most inaccessible parts of the interior, and in the great forests 
to the east and north. Moors are dispersed in all the districts, 
and there is a small proportion of negroes, Malays, and Chinese. 
The Europeans are about 5,000 ; but there is a mixed race of 
white and native, called Burghers, from which class are 
selected almost exclusively the inferior officers of the state. 

The Governor and Commander-in-Chief resides at Colombo. 
Salary, 7,000Z. The Legislative Council consists of five mem- 
bers, and the Executive Council of fifteen. The defence of 
Ceylon is now being intrusted bj the Government to Sikh 
troops. Colombo was made a bishopric in 1845 (income, 
2,000/.), and a college for the training of native ministers was 
founded in 1851, called St. Thomas, in consequence of a tradi- 
tion that St. Thomas the apostle first preached the Gospel in 
Ceylon. Christianity, however, seems really to have been 
originally introduced by Nestorian missionaries, .who came over 
with merchants from Persia 7 and to have been established 



312 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

permanently about 1544, by St. Francis Xavier, called the 
Apostle of the Indies, 600 of whose disciples fell martyrs to their 
faith. Soman Catholics form the great majority of Christians in 
the island. The Government supports many schools, in which 
it is said the natives are very eager to receive instruction ; and 
there are many village and temple schools conducted by 
' Buddhist priests. 

Cinnamon and rice were formerly the staples of Ceylon, but 
staple now tne J aya cinnamon is sent in such large quan- 
Products, titles to the British market, that the growth of it in 
Ceylon has become of comparatively small importance, and 
has been greatly superseded by the coffee-plant, first introduced 
by General Fraser, and now cultivated to such a large extent, 
that of the 83,000,000 lbs. of coffee imported into the United 
Kingdom in 1861, no less than 53,000,000 lbs. came from 
Ceylon. Among minor articles of export is the Strychnos Nux 
Vomica, the fruit of a native tree growing in sandy places, 
from the seeds of which the medicine or deadly poison of 
strychnine is obtained. Besides the staples of coffee, cocoa- 
oil, and cinnamon, Ceylon exports ivory, ebony, tortoise-shell., 
gems, and pearls. 

The pearl-fisheries belong eminently to the west coast of 
Ceylon, and the business is carried on at Aripo, a small town 
on the north-west coast ; but the pearl-banks themselves are 
twelve miles from the shore, and extend about thirty miles 
from north to south, and twenty from east to west. The 
trade belongs to the Government, which either lets the banks 
or sells the oysters or pearls to the highest bidder. The 
fishery generally begins in March, if the weather is calm, and 
lasts for about thirty days, but each bank is only productive 
for about twenty days in every seven years. The divers are 
mostly stout, healthy Malabars or Tamils, who provide their 
own boats, and dive for about six hours in the day ; when one 
man is tired another taking his place. The diver descends by 
placing his feet on a sinking- stone, to which a rope is attached — 
taking no measures to close ears or nostrils — and the stone is 
drawn up by his comrade directly it touches the bottom, and 



CEYLON. 313 

immediately afterwards the basket, filled with the diver and 
all the marine things he can clutch during the fiftj seconds 
that he usually remains under water — sea- slugs, hideous polypi, 
beautiful shells — all coming up in company with the true pearl 
oyster ; which is not, however, an oyster, but a species of mussel 
with a curious leg or sucker, by which it either moves along or 
attaches itself to any object it fancies. 

At the firing of a signal gun, the fishing ceases for the day, 
and then all the divers make a simultaneous plunge, and the 
little flotilla moves off for the shore, where a Government offi- 
cial receives the precious freight, and gives a fourth part to the 
divers as their remuneration. The rest of the oysters are sold 
by auction and are c washed ' by the purchasers in their own 
private yards. A more disgusting operation cannot be con- 
ceived than this washing for pearls. The oysters are left till 
they are decomposed, and the putrid mass is then placed in 
large tubs of water and the whole well stirred up by hand 
until the pearls are separated and sink to the bottom, where 
they lie disclosed when the liquid is poured off.* 

The pearls are mostly very small, and are found sometimes 
loose and sometimes adhering tightly to the shell, or enclosed 
in the body of the oyster. The largest pearl ever found at 
Aripo was about the size of a bullet used in a No. 14 rifle, 
and was perfectly round. It was found in March, 1860. The 
highest price at which the oysters have been sold is 161. per 
thousand, but of course it is quite a lottery what may be the 
prize of pearls to the buyer. We are told of a little brown 
girl who made a sixpenny speculation in an oyster and gained 
a pearl worth 71. or 81. The price of pearls varies exceed- 
ingly according to the demand, but it is not often that one is 
found of the value of 20/. The pearls of Ceylon are of a 
whiter tint than those found on the Arabian coasts and 
elsewhere, and are esteemed inferior in quality. 

* Eraser's Mag., 1860, p. 753. 



314 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EASTERN STRAITS SETTLEMENTS ! LABUAN, ADEN. 

In the Straits of Malacca, and upon that singular strip of land 
which stretches out from the Asiatic continent towards the 
equator, called the Malayan Peninsula, the English have four 
settlements, viz. : Pulo-Penang and Wellesley Province, Ma- 
lacca and Singapore. These settlements were detached from 
the Presidency of Bengal and formed into a separate province 
by the East India Company in 1851, and Pulo-Penang was 
made the seat of Government. 

PULO-PENANG. 

Pulo-Penang, or Prince of Wales' Island, is an island about 
sixteen miles long and eight broad, consisting of a mass of 
forest-clad mountains in the centre and tracts of alluvial soil, 
lying to the east and west. The island belonged to the small 
State of Quedah, on the opposite mainland of the peninsula, 
and in 1786 was given by the King of Quedah to an English- 
man, Captain Light, as a marriage portion with his daughter. 
During the wars in the Carnatic between the English and 
French, the East India Company felt the want of a harbour in 
that direction, and purchased Pulo-Penang for that purpose, 
making Captain Light its first governor. A few Malay fisher- 
men were then its only inhabitants. Soon after, the King of 
Quedah ceded to the Company a part of the opposite coast, 
since called Wellesley Province, on payment of a small rent ; 
and gradually there flocked into the new settlement Hindoos 
and Chinese and natives from the adjoining countries. George 
Town, the capital, built on the east coast, is a place of con- 
siderable trade, and its fine harbour is visited by most of the 
vessels sailing from Hindostan to China. The cultivatable 



EASTERN STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 315 

part of the island is exceedingly fertile and abounds in the 
areka palm, or betel-nut, from which the island takes its name, 
and in plantains and bananas. No grain grows there but In- 
dian corn and rice. Its most valuable commercial products 
are peppers and spices; its nutmegs and cloves being considered 
the finest in the world. 

MALACCA. 

The British town and territory of Malacca are situated on 
the south-west coast of the peninsula, and cover a space of 
about 1,000 square miles, including the district of Naning, 
valuable for its tin mines. The country is mountainous, and 
rice is much cultivated in the swampy valleys. Other chief 
products are pepper, sago, sugar, nutmegs, and timber. The 
population are chiefly Malays and Chinese. The town of Ma- 
lacca was first built by a Malay king in 1250. Portuguese, 
Dutch, and English took possession of it by turns, and it was 
finally ceded to England by the Netherland Government in 
1824, in exchange for some possessions in Sumatra. 

SINGAPORE. 

Singapore is an oval- shaped island, about 25 miles long, at 
the extreme of the Malay peninsula, and the settlement in- 
cludes about fifty islets in the Singapore Straits. The surface 
of the island is hilly, with low shores abounding with man- 
grove trees. When the English first settled here, about forty 
years ago, it was mostly covered with dense forest, and it is 
owing chiefly to the Chinese settlers that large tracts have 
since been cleared for cultivation. The country is much in- 
fested with tigers, which swim across from the mainland. The 
town of Singapore stands on the south shore on the site of an 
old Malay capital, the city of Singhapiira, or c Lion's Town,' 
the ancient boundaries of which are still visible. The English 
built here a factory in 1819, and in 1824 obtained the sover- 
eignty of the island from the princes of Lahore, in return for 
life -annuities. The colony has since rapidly increased, and 
although the island has little produce of its own, it has become 



316 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

exceedingly important as the emporium of Southern Asia and 
the Indian Archipelago. In consequence of its being a free 
port, exempt from dues of every kind, immense numbers of 
native vessels bring commodities from India and China and the 
adjacent countries to exchange for European goods. 

LABUAN. 

Labuan is a small wooded island off the west coast of 
Borneo, valuable to England as a coal-depot for steam-vessels 
in the eastern seas. The island was ceded to Great Britain in 
1847, by the Sultan of Borneo, at the request of Sir James 
Brooke, who had won the gratitude of both sovereign and 
people by his efforts for the repression of piracy, and by other 
benefits, and who had long lived among them under the title 
of the Eajah of Sarawak, and as proprietor of a large territory 
on the coast of Borneo. Upon the cession of Labuan he was 
appointed Governor. The island has a mixed population of 
Hindoos, Chinese, and Malays, and a few Europeans, and is 
becoming more healthy from clearing and drainage. The 
coal-mines at the north-east point have been wrought by the 
Eastern Archipelago Company. The chief exports are coal, 
birds' nests, sago, pearls, and camphor. 

Labuan was created a bishopric in 1855. The income of 
the bishop is 360Z. ; that of the governor, 800/. 

ADEN. 

On the south coast of Arabia, at the entrance of the Straits 
of Babel-Man deb, England has one solitary settlement, the 
town and harbour of Aden, which, like another Gibraltar, is a 
rocky fortress projecting into the sea, and derives its great 
importance from its commanding position, standing about 
midway between Suez and the nearest port of India, Kurra- 
chee. Aden was in early times famous as^ seat of commerce 
for the merchants of the East, and was a l Eomanum Empo- 
rium ' in the days of Constantine. Portuguese and Turks 
disputed possession of it in the middle ages, but the place fell 
into decay when the route to India round the Cape of Good 



ADEN. 317 

Hope was fairly opened. During the eighteenth century, the 
town is described as a mere heap of mud huts in a desolate 
region, supposed to be the crater of an extinct volcano. So 
valuable, however, did it appear to the Anglo-Indian Govern- 
ment as a harbour and coaling-station for steamers on the 
overland route, that a treaty for its transfer was concluded, 
partly by force of arms, with the native Sultan, in 1838. 
Since then it has rapidly become a flourishing place of trade, 
as well as chief station for the overland mails ; houses, gar- 
dens, and orchards have sprung up on the desert soil, and the 
inhabitants now number about 24,000. 



318 



CHAPTER IX. 

POSSESSIONS IN CHINA: HONG-KONG AND KOWTOON. 

England's relation with China formerly existed only through 
the medium of the East India Company, who possessed the 
monopoly of the tea- trade. In 1834, the monopoly ceased, 
and trade with China was thrown open ; but still the chief 
British export trade consisted of raw cotton and opium from 
India, and the only emporium for our commerce in China was 
the town of Canton, or Quang-tong. 

Chinese jealousy of foreigners had restricted all European 
Honw transactions in China to a small body of traders 

Merchants, called the Hong merchants (the word hong meaning 
factory or warehouse), whom they permitted to reside in one 
of the suburbs of Canton. The hongs were thirteen in 
number, and these warehouses, belonging to English, French, 
Dutch, Americans, and others, were crowded together in an 
incredibly small space, on the bank of the river Canton, each 
warehouse communicating with the water by wooden stairs, 
down which all the tea and other goods were shipped. 

In 1839, the Chinese authorities took alarm at the enormous 
quantities of opium introduced from India, the sale of which, 
although illegal, had hitherto been tacitly allowed ; and sum- 
marily seized upon and destroyed more than 20,000 chests be- 
longing to the British merchants. Compensation was demanded 
and refused; whereupon war was declared, and in 1841 Canton 
was taken by English troops. The city was ransomed for 
Treaty of 6,000,000 dollars, and in 1842 the dispute was settled 
Nanking. ^y the treaty of Nanking ; according to which, the 
island of Hong-Kong was ceded to England in perpetuity, a just 
tariff of duties was established, and four other ports besides 
Canton were opened to British ships and goods ; viz. Shanghai, 



England's relations with china. 319 

Ningpo, Foo-chow-foo, and Amoy ; at all which ports a British 
consul and European merchants were to be allowed to reside. 

But friendly relations did not long continue. The Chinese 
evaded the conditions of the treaty, and English traders, 
although the sale of opium had been legalised by the Emperor 
in 1856, were not content with the increased facilities for lawful 
commerce, but carried on smuggling to an immense extent. 
Their armed merchant-vessels, or opium-clippers, defied the 
police of the empire, and shewed the Chinese how to evade the 
payment of all dues and customs. There were multitudes of 
lawless Cantonese ready to learn the lesson. Opium, as a con- 
traband article, yielded such enormous profits that the native 
traders formed themselves into guilds, or smuggling Assurance 
companies, leagued against the tax-gatherers of China; and the 
officers of English opium-clippers have been known to protect 
these ruffians, and to help beat off the government boats. 
It is said that the Taeping Eebellion, the worst scourge that 
has troubled the peace of the Chinese empire in latter times, 
had its rise in lawless smuggling bands, who, pretending 
to be converts to Christianity, pillaged and devastated the 
provinces under pretext of ' dealing justice on behalf of 
Heaven upon the heathen ; ' although these Taeping rebels were 
quite as ready to attack the English stations as the Chinese, 
when it suited their purpose. 

While thus the Chinese had their cause of complaint against 
the English, their own authorities continued to impede our 
lawful commerce by vexatious restrictions. Europeans were 
still denied entrance into Canton and other towns, and when, 
in 1857, Sir John Bowring, the then Governor of Hong-Kong, 
urged our right of admission into Canton, on the grounds of 
the treaty of Nanking, this claim was refused ; and an insult to 
a vessel bearing the British flag forming a definite cause of 
quarrel, Canton was again besieged and captured, this time by 
the allied French and English, and the Governor Yeh was 
banished to Calcutta. This campaign ended by the Treat f 
treaty of Tientsin, concluded by Lord Elgin in 1858, Tientsin. 
the chief points of which were — right of entry into China, and 



320 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

right of residence in Pekin ; freedom of trade ; toleration of 
Christianity ; a revised tariff; and that the term I (barbarian) 
be no longer applied to Europeans. 

Still peace was not secured. The next year, Mr. Bruce, 
the British Envoy, was stopped on his way to Pekin in the 
river Peiho, and Admiral Hope, in attempting to force a 
passage, was repulsed with loss of about eighty men. This 
act of treachery was revenged by an allied French and 
English force, of a most imposing character, advancing to 
Pekin itself in the autumn of 1860. The Celestial city was 
ravaged by the French troops, the palace of the Emperor 
was burnt by the English in retaliation for outrages committed 
on British prisoners, and the Emperor Hienfung fled to Zehul 
in Tartary. The following year • the sacred one,' in the words 
of the Pekin Gazette, ' took so severe a cold from the change 
of climate, that on August 22, 1861, he ascended upon the 
dragon to be a guest on high.' With his death ended a 
corrupt and imbecile dynasty, and henceforth a more liberal 
intercourse with the nations of Europe began to be possible 
in China. Prince Kung, who had always advocated an en- 
lightened policy, was appointed Eegent, and between him and 
Lord Elgin a convention was signed by which the treaty of 
Tientsin was ratified, and indemnity paid, and, in order to 
secure Europe against further retrograde policy, it was stipu- 
lated that England, France, and America should be represented 
by ambassadors at Pekin, who should reside there permanently 
and communicate freely with the Imperial ministers. 

Accordingly, in 1861, our British embassies were settled at 

Pekin, and the same year, the French and English 
Eeiations assisted the Government against the Taeping rebels 
CMna. wno Stocked Shanghai, and a small fleet of British 

gun-boats was organised to help the Imperialists to 
preserve order. The friendly relation thus begun and con- 
firmed between the English and the Chinese governments is 
bearing most satisfactory fruits. A British ambassador at 
Pekin is now becoming the influential adviser and controller 
in the executive administration in the capital of the empire, 



England's relations with china. 321 

and the commerce of the ports is on a sounder basis than at 
any former period. 

Since the abolition of the Hong monopoly and the opening 
of other ports besides Canton, onr trade with China, mainly in 
the staples of tea and silk, has immensely increased. Shanghai, 
the most northerly of the ports, opens for us the navigation of 
the great river Yang-tse-Kiang, and so brings lis into imme- 
diate communication with the tea-producing districts, and 
with the trade of Central Asia : Ningpo, a little farther south, 
regarded by the Chinese as one of their most beautiful cities, 
is a place of great trade : Foo-chow-foo is within seventy 
miles of the black-tea districts, and has large manufactures of 
cotton goods : Amoy has great trade with Formosa and the 
maritime provinces of China, and exports chiefly congou tea. 
The British trade with these places now far exceeds that of 
Canton, and it is greatly by means of our intercourse with 
these ports that British influence is now acting upon the 
Chinese to an extent that it has never done before. Through 
our commerce with Shanghai alone, the revenue of the 
Celestial Empire gained in 1862 a million sterling, and similar 
facts are opening the eyes of the Pekin officials to the value of 
peaceful relations with England from a financial point of view. 

In 1854, His Excellency Woo, a Chinese official at Shanghai, 
weary of the fraudulent practices of the native col- Custom „> 
lectors of customs, agreed with Mr. Alcock, the English inspec- 

torate. 

consul-general, to appoint a European as inspector 
of British customs ; and accordingly, Mr. Lay, the vice-consul 
at Shanghai, was elected, and in 1855 was recognised by the 
Chinese government, and invested with all the powers of a 
great mandarin. In Asiatic fashion, however, the government 
tested Mr. Lay's integrity, by instigating the Taoutai of 
Shanghai to place 30,000/. in his hands, and then to try by 
many devices to make him embezzle the money. By their 
own confession, they kept two men to watch Mr. Lay and the 
money night and day for many years. Finding that the 
30,000Z. remained intact in the bank, their trust in Mr. Lay 
became implicit, and in 1859 he was appointed i Inspector- 

Y 



322 POSSESSIONS IN ASIA. 

General of all the open Ports,' with authority over all seaboard 
customs, foreign as well as British, and with power to form a 
complete administrative service. In 1861 this Inspectorate, 
managed by a combined board of Europeans and Chinese, was 
recognised by Prince Kung as a great department of state, 
and the integrity with which it has been conducted has so 
benefited the revenues and other interests of the empire, that 
it is hoped that this first establishment of the British govern- 
ment, as a protecting power in China, may be the basis of 
civilisation and reform throughout the country. 

HONG-KONG. 

Hong-kong is one of a group of barren, granite islands, 
named by the Spaniards the Ladrones, or Thieves, which lie 
off the east coast of China at the mouth of the Canton river, 
and are about 100 miles from Canton. Hong-kong itself is 
an irregular, broken ridge of rocks, stretching east and west 
about eight miles, its mountain peaks rising to nearly 2,000 
feet, and its coast broken up into small bays and headlands. 
Only a small portion of the island in one of the valleys is 
cultivated. The climate is unhealthy, owing to the alternation 
of excessive heat and violent rains, which create a damp, 
fever-producing atmosphere. The island is separated from 
the mainland by a narrow strait called the Lymoon Pass, 
which forms an excellent anchorage for ships, since it lies 
sheltered between the mountains of Hong-kong and those of 
the mainland, and the water, within a cable's length from the 
shore, is deep enough to float a man-of-war. 

On account of its favourable position for commercial and poli- 
tical purposes, Hong-kong was fixed upon by Sir Henry Pot- 
tinger, who arranged the articles of the treaty of Nanking, as a 
permanent British settlement, and it was regularly constituted a 
crown colony in 1843. But the island is still essentially Chinese, 
although it is the head- quarters of all that concerns England 
in those seas. The bulk of the people are lower class Chinese, 
engaged in stone cutting, agriculture, trade or fishing, with a 
large vagrant class, and a floating population who live entirely 



HONG-KONG. 323 

in boats, and until lately none of the wealthy or respectable 
Chinese lived in the island. But Hong-kong holds now a 
far more important relation than formerly to the Chinese con- 
tinent, in consequence of the insecurity felt by the wealthier 
classes of natives through the fear of rebels, and their depend- 
ence in some degree upon the protection of England ; and 
above 100,000 Chinese of the more respectable trading classes 
have lately thronged into Victoria. Europeans and Americans 
scarcely exceed 1,000. 

The towns are Victoria, Aberdeen, and Stanley. Victoria 
extends about three miles in front of the harbour. It contains 
regular streets and Chinese bazaars, with European hotels, 
billiard-rooms, &c. The chief public buildings are the Govern- 
ment Home, English episcopal and Catholic churches and 
dissenters' chapels, a Mohammedan mosque, and three Chinese 
temples. There are schools supported by government in this 
town, and in Stanley and Aberdeen. Victoria was created a 
bishopric in 1849, and includes Hong-kong and the congrega- 
tions of the English church in China. The governor is aided 
by a legislative and executive council, but there is no repre- 
sentative assembly, and the colony is subject to orders from 
the colonial office at home. The governor, as superintendent 
of trade, is head of the consular establishments at the ports 
opened at the treaty of Nanking. 

The opposite peninsula of Kowtoon was ceded to England 
by the treaty of 1861 between Lord Elgin and the Chinese 
government, and now belongs to Hong-kong. It is more a 
trading station than a colony, and is valuable to us chiefly as 
a factory for our. trade with China, and as a military and 
naval station for its protection. 



x2 



324 



PART V. 
POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 



Our African possessions consist of the colonies at the Cape 
of Good Hope, and a few settlements on the west coast, viz., 
British Senegambia, Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, and the 
island of Lagos : and in the surrounding seas, the islands of 
St. Helena, Ascension, Mauritius, and Seychelles. 

The coast of Africa, which includes our settlements, was 
apparently totally unknown to Europeans until the fifteenth 
century ; and although the nations that bordered the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, the Egyptian, the Carthaginian, the Phoenician, and 
the Saracen, played so conspicuous a part in the world's history, 
the rest of the vast African continent, with its savage races, 
its interminable plains and deserts, and its endless line of 
coast, all lay unexplored and extending indefinitely to the 
south ; and it was long the belief in western Europe that it 
must for ever remain unknown, since none could endure the 
fierce heat of those torrid regions and their vertical sun. 

To Prince Henry of Portugal, nephew of Henry IV. of 
England, is given the credit of being the first to begin the 
career of African discovery. His curiosity was so much 
stimulated by the accounts the Moors gave him of the country 
of Guinea and the neighbourhood, that at the age of twenty 
he took up his residence near Cape St. Yincent, in order that 
from that point he might direct exploring expeditions. The 
first vessels he sent out reached as far as Cape Bojador, but were 
scared back again by the furious waves which lashed round 
the promontory ; soon, however, his navigators made better 
acquaintance with this western coast, and in 1442 Gonzales 




onAoTi. ZoTurman & t 



AFRICAN SLAYE TRADE. 325 

Baldesa returned with a first cargo from Africa, namely, ten 
negroes and some gold dust. And from this point of time 
begins a history of blood and treachery from which the heart 
recoils, but which must be glanced at, since it is closely con- 
nected with the history of British settlement in this part of 
Africa. 

The harmless negro races received the Portuguese adven- 
turers with unsuspicious kindness, and it appears to Beginning 
have been the intention of Prince Henry in the first si a ^ rican 
instance to open a fair commerce with them, and to Trade. 
introduce amongst them the Catholic faith. But their robust 
frames and docile nature soon tempted him to an infamous 
traffic in the natives themselves, and an association was 
formed for carrying on a trade in gold and slaves, in the 
profits of which he shared, and the name of this prince has 
thus descended to posterity as the originator of the African 
slave trade. Prom this time negroes from Africa became a 
regular article of merchandise in Portugal, and when the 
navigator Cadamosto visited the river Gambia in 1456, he found 
that the Portuguese were in the habit of landing at night and 
carrying off the inhabitants of the villages on its banks. The 
men-stealers were soon aided in their abominable traffic by 
the native chiefs, who, although at first they resisted them to 
the utmost, were at length bribed by the Portuguese to make 
war with their neighbours, in order that they might sell them 
their captives. 

After the discovery of America by the Spaniards in 1492, 
and when their settlements in the West Indies were found to 
require more labour than could be supplied by the weak and 
indolent native Indians, the idea first arose of tran- American 
sporting thither the African negroes ; and in 1503 the ^rade 
slave-trade to America was begun by the shipment 1503 - 
of a few negroes to the island of St. Domingo to supply the place 
of the wretched Indians who had been worked to death in the 
mines. The Portuguese found this new opening for the traffic 
only too profitable, since it was reckoned that one able-bodied 
negro was capable of as much work as four Indians, and by 



326 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. 

the year 1539 as many as 12,000 negroes were annually sold 
in the Lisbon market. 

For many years the Portuguese retained the monopoly of 
the African settlements ; but towards the end of the sixteenth 
century other European nations, English, French, Dutch, and 
Danes, began to plant trading stations on different parts of 
the coast ; and Sir John Hawkins, notorious for being the first 
English slave-dealer, began operations in 1562 by conveying 
300 slaves to St. Domingo, and pursued the traffic apparently 
with the sanction of Queen Elizabeth, since she gave him for 
his crest ' a demy-moor bound with a cord.' "With this ex- 
ception, the British traders do not seem at first to have joined 
in the traffic, and are said to have indignantly refused to buy 
' any that had their own shapes.' But in 1641, when the 
want of labour in the British West Indies began to be 
urgently felt, the temptation was too strong, and in 
Charles II.'s reign the African Company undertook to supply 
the colonies with 3,000 slaves annually. Even so late as the 
reign of George III. slaves were advertised for sale in the 
London newspapers. For instance, in the l Gazetteer,' April 18, 
1769, ' To be sold, at the Bull and Gate, Holborn, a chestnut 
gelding, a tim whiskey, and a well-made, good-tempered 
black boy. Also a mulatto girl, handy at her needle,' &c. 

To the honour of Britain, it can at the present time be said 
that the principal interest attaching to our settlements on the 
west African coast is that they exist for the protection of the 
negro and for the promotion of his freedom, both from the 
bondage of slavery and from that of his own superstition and 
barbarism. By opening ample markets for native produce, 
the settlers have proved to the African chiefs that it is far 
more profitable to keep labour on their own soil than to sell 
for slaves their able-bodied people ; and by guarding the 
coast against the shipment of slaves, and capturing slave 
vessels, these settlements have been instrumental to an im- 
mense extent in checking the traffic. The sum that England 
yearly expends in the prevention of the slave trade in 



GAMBIA. 327 

Western Africa — in the conveyance, care, and maintenance of 
captured negroes — is rather more than 31,000Z. 

While the early history of these western settlements is thus 
connected with unlawful traffic to the New World, the history 
of our other and far more important colonies on the southern 
coast belongs to the brightest period of maritime discovery and 
opening of new fields of enterprise and commerce ; and since 
the day when Yasco de Gama sailed in triumph round the 
Cape of Good Hope, the European settlements there have 
owed their main importance to their prominent station on the 
ocean-path to India. 



CHAPTEE I. 

WEST AFRICAN COLONIES. 
GAMBIA COLONY. 

England's first direct intercourse with Africa appears to have 
been in 1588, when Queen Elizabeth granted a patent to some 
merchants of Exeter for obtaining gold, gums, ivory, Early 
ostrich-feathers, and other commodities from the Settiemeilt - 
tropical neighbourhood of the Gambia and Senegal rivers. 
The Company was not very successful ; nevertheless, in 
James I.'s reign, factories were erected on the banks of the 
Gambia, and a small islet at the mouth was especially fortified 
and named James's Fort. Disputes arising from time to time 
between the French and English settlers as to the right of 
position, it was finally agreed at the Peace of Paris, 1814, that 
England should have the exclusive trade of the Gambia river, 
and the French that of the Senegal : and this is the existing 
arrangement so far, that although the Senegal has since been 
opened to us by treaty, the French have prohibited the 
export of gum, a principal article of commerce, to anywhere 
but France or the French colonies. 

The river Gambia flows into the Atlantic in 13° 30' N. lat., 
16° 40' W. long. For nearly 400 miles it is navigable into 



328 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. 

the interior, and the English have trading establishments for 
many miles on both sides of its banks, the Government 
having bought tracts of land at various times of the native 
chiefs. The capital of the colony is the town of Bathurst, on 
the island of St. Mary, at the mouth of the river, where a 
settlement was founded in 1818, chiefly for the prevention of 
the slave trade. The next settlement of importance is Mac 
Carthy's Island, named after Sir Charles Mac Car thy, Governor 
of Sierra Leone, a small islet about three miles in area, 
situated 180 miles up the river, where there is a missionary 
station and a military fort, Fort George. These settlements 
are naturally unhealthy, both of them standing so low that the 
water inundates them in the rainy season, while in the dry 
season Mac Carthy's Island is little else than a mass of burnt 
clay; consequently tropical fever is the bane of European settlers. 

Bathurst is by far the more healthy site, from its exposure 
to land and sea-breezes, and much has been done of late years 
to lessen its mortality by sanitary measures. Only about fifty 
Europeans are resident there, although the place is visited by 
great numbers of sailors and other persons from Europe and 
America; but the town presents, nevertheless, something of 
an European aspect, with its market-place, court-house, and 
wharf; the African dwellings, clean and decent habitations, 
mingling with the handsome English houses, and warehouses, 
and public buildings. 

Gambia forms part of the bishopric of Sierra Leone. Large 
schools, belonging to the Wesley an s, and some Eoman Catholic 
schools, under the care of Sisters of Charity, are the chief 
means of instruction provided for the numerous coloured 
population, which belongs chiefly to the three great 
negro races which inhabit the northern part of 
Western Africa, viz. : the Toulahs, a gentle, hospitable 
people, of an olive complexion, and without the flat nose or 
thick lips of the true negro, most of whom are Mohamme- 
dans; the Mandingoes, an active, cheerful race, good traders 
and fishers, fond of improvising poetry, and of dancing for 
hours together to the beating of the ' tom-tom/ or drum ; 



GAMBIA. 329 

and the Jollofs, a handsome but true negro race, clever in 
horsemanship, and in dyeing and manufacturing cotton cloths. 
Besides their intercourse with the tribes in their closer neigh- 
bourhood, the missionary stations on the Gambia are, by means 
of the river, more directly in connection with the really bar- 
barous races of the interior of Africa than is the case with the 
other settlements on this coast. But, owing to the deadly 
climate, the work of the missionary is too certainly a martyr- 
dom, and most of those who devote themselves to it in these 
regions, soon rest from their labours in an early grave, or return 
to England, broken in health, after a year or two's toil. 

Since the abolition of the slave-trade, there has been a rapid 
increase in the wealth and native produce of these settlements. 
So long as slave-carrying was the chief trade with the Euro- 
peans, the exports were limited to gold-dust and elephants' 
teeth, or such articles as required little labour and skill for their 
production. But, now the whole coast is alive with native 
industry. Probably the chief export is palm-oil, which is 
extracted by pounding and boiling from the rind of a hard 
nut that grows on a tree of the palm species, and resembles a 
miniature cocoa-nut. The trees which bear this nut are very 
numerous ; but as nine tons of palm-nut stones give only one 
ton of oil, it is not worth while to import them unhusked, and 
they are therefore imported as kernels ; the natives at present 
having to break the stones with their hands, as mills have not 
yet been introduced with success. Other articles of export 
are hides, ivory, gold, gum arabic, bees-wax, mahogany, the 
timber of the teak-tree, useful for ship-building, and ground- 
nuts. 

The trade in ground-nuts is comparatively a recent one, and 
the increasing demand for this little nut, or rather Ground . 
seed, has worked wonders in the condition and habits nuts - 
of the people. The ground-nut is the seed of a kind of vetch 
or pea, the pod of which, at a certain stage of its growth, turns 
downwards and buries itself in the soil, and so ripens under- 
ground. These pea-nuts were only known as food to the na- 
tives, who roasted them like chestnuts ; but upon trial in the 



330 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. 

oil-mills of England, the seed was found to contain a large 
amount of oil, and henceforth as an oil-seed it has been 
exported in immense quantities to England, France, and Ame- 
rica. So profitable is the trade to the natives, that many of 
them, called Tilliebunkas, or men from the east, come many 
hundreds of miles from the interior, in order to hire of the na- 
tive chiefs little patches of land on the banks of the Gambia, 
where the soil is best suited to the ground-nuts, and where they 
stay for a year or two and cultivate them until they have ex- 
changed them for as much as they want of European goods ; they 
then return in parties of 20 or 100 to their homes in the interior, 
carrying with them their well-earned treasures, and a useful 
lesson or two as to the value of steady industry, the rights of 
property, and the advantages of trade over warfare. 

Cotton is grown extensively in the interior, but only 
for home use. The negroes manufacture it into cloth for 
themselves, and cannot be persuaded to grow cotton for ex- 
port, since they prefer the light labour and quick returns of 
the nut-farm. 

The government of the Gambia Colony is vested in a 
governor (salary, 1,200/.), aided by executive and legislative 
councils. The military defence is intrusted to detachments 
of the West India coloured regiments, of about 280 rank and 
file ; besides which there is a ' Eoyal Gambia Militia.' The 
total population at the census of 1851 was 5,693, of which the 
whites were 191. 

SIERRA LEONE. 

About 300 miles south of Bathurst is the British colony of 
Sierra Leone, or Lion Mountain, which takes its name from 
the peninsula on which it stands, and which is supposed to 
have been so named by its first discoverers, the Portuguese, 
Natural on account of the lions in the neighbourhood. The 
Features. settlement extends about forty miles along the shore 
of the Atlantic, and about thirty miles into the interior ; the 
northern boundary being the Mungo Kiver, in 8° 50' N. lati- 
tude, and the peninsula forming the chief part of the territory. 



SIEERA LEONE. 331 

The surface of Sierra Leone is a vast alluvial plain, traversed 
in every direction by ranges of basaltic rocks, which rise in 
conical peaks, the highest of which are the Sugar-Loaf and 
Leicester Mountains, from 2,000 to 3,000 feet. Many streams 
descend from these hills, the principal being the Eokelle, which, 
thirty miles from its mouth, spreads out into an estuary seven 
miles wide, called the river of Sierra Leone. Iron mines are 
worked in the hilly parts, and when the English first came, the 
valleys were nearly covered with large forest trees, chief of 
which was the silk- cotton- tree, the trunk of which could be 
hollowed out into canoes capable of holding 100 men. Being 
less than 600 miles from the equator, and the place being 
visited by no trade winds, the climate is exceedingly hot, and 
during the wet season, which lasts from May to November, the 
vapour which loads the air, and the swampy state of the level 
tracts, where putrefaction of animal and vegetable substances 
goes on with inconceivable rapidity, generate fevers especially 
fatal to Europeans ; and the dry season, during December, 
January, and February, is hardly less trying, from the air 
being then filled by an impalpable sand, which enters nostrils, 
ears, and eyes, and causes pulmonary complaints. The hottest 
part of the year is just before the wet season, when terrific tor- 
nados usher in the period of perpetual rain and fog, and when 
the only relief to the oppressed atmosphere is from the sea- 
breeze, which blows every morning regularly from the north- 
west. 

In the valleys, the soil is rich and yields large crops of rice 
and ground-nuts, while the hills are clothed to their summits 
with palm-trees, and grass which keeps green all the year round. 
The chief food of the natives is yams, maize, mandisos, 
pumpkins, and plantains, and their chief fruit is the pine- " 
apple ; the orange, pomegranate, guava, and African plum are 
also indigenous, and many other fruits have been naturalised, 
such as the grape, cherry, tamarind, date, and almond. Vege- 
tables that have been introduced from England thrive well, 
especially French beans and cabbage, and more important stilly 
coffee, sugar, indigo, and cotton find here a congenial soil. 



332 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 

The wild animals are elephants, buffalos, leopards, wolves, 
antelopes, and monkeys, some of which last are of the chim- 
panzee species. Of the domestic animals, goats are common, 
cattle and sheep less numerous, and horses are imported. 

The first intercourse between the English and Sierra Leone 
Settlement was disgraceful enough, since it was here that the 
first English slave-dealer, Sir John Hawkins, carried 
on the traffic, burning and pillaging the villages and kidnap- 
ping the natives. This bad beginning has, however, been nobly 
redeemed by the recent settlement which originated at the end 
of the last century in the desire of some philanthropists to 
provide a home in Africa for rescued slaves who had been 
brought to England and declared free by the decision of Chief 
Justice Mansfield ; and also in their wish to prove by experi- 
ment that colonial productions could be obtained without 
slave labour. The site of Sierra Leone was chosen because 
many of the negroes had been originally transported from 
those districts and would therefore be adapted to the climate. 

In 1787, four hundred and seventy liberated negroes, who 
had become rather a nuisance in the streets of London, were 
carried to the settlement, which at first consisted of about 
twenty square miles of land, purchased of a native chief who 
enjoyed the title of l King Tom.' At the close of the Ameri- 
can war, in 1790, their numbers were greatly increased by the 
disbanded negroes who had served in the British army and 
navy; and after the abolition of the slave-trade, in 1807, thou- 
sands of poor negroes, rescued by the English from slave-ships, 
w T ere added to the colony. In 1791, the project was formally 
sanctioned by Act of Parliament, and a Sierra Leone Company 
was formed under the direction of Granville Sharpe, Clarkson, 
and Wilberforce. Many disasters nearly ruined the infant 
colony at starting. First, a neighbouring chief set fire to their 
town in revenge for a similar injury inflicted on his own 
people by English seamen, and drove the colonists from the 
spot they had first chosen ; then a cargo of negroes from Nova 
Scotia brought a fever with them which killed half the Euro- 
peans ; then a French squadron burnt and pillaged the place. 



SIERRA LEONE. 333 

But owing chiefly to the exertions of Granville Sharpe, the 
settlement rallied and prospered, and a new town was founded, 
called by the appropriate name of Free Town. 

Free Town, the capital of the colony, stands on the south 
margin of the estuary of Sierra Leone, on a gently- Present 
rising ground, overtopped with a fine semicircular Condltlon - 
sweep of wooded mountains. It has excellent roads and streets, 
shops well supplied with British goods, handsome public build- 
ings, and it especially abounds in stone houses, which mostly 
belong to liberated slaves, whose universal object of desire 
seems to be to possess a stone house as an undoubted mark of 
a respectable social position. 

The colony is divided into ^.re districts, and these again 
into villages and parishes, the total population of which is 
estimated at 45,000, of which scarcely a hundred are whites. 
The country population consists principally of liberated Afri- 
cans ; that in the town of a few European residents, the Nova 
Scotian negroes, the Maroons, or disbanded soldiers from the 
West Indies, and the Kroomen, or labourers who come for hire 
from the Grain Coast, and occupy a distinct quarter of Free 
Town. 

The administration of Sierra Leone consists of a governor 
(salary, 2,000/.) and a council of seven or more members. The 
military defence is intrusted to negro regiments officered by 
Europeans, whose head quarters are at Gambia. 

Sierra Leone, in 1850, was made the seat of a bishopric 
which comprises all the West African colonies (Bishop's in- 
come, 900/.). It may also be regarded as the head quarters 
of missionary operations in Western Africa, and the labours 
of the Church Mission Society and of the Wesleyan missions 
form, indeed, one of the most prominent features in the history 
of the settlement. So early as 1804, when the slave trade was 
at its height, the agents of the Church Mission first established 
themselves amongst the Susu tribes, about 100 miles from 
Sierra Leone ; and after the abolition, the captured slaves, to the 
number of many thousands yearly, were the especial care of 
the missionaries, who instructed them and transferred them to 



334 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. 

the various settlements. The only government church is at 
Sierra Leone, but the Church Missionary Society has churches 
in almost every village in the settlement. The Wesleyans 
predominate as to numbers. 

The missionary labours are, however, much interfered with 
by Mohammedan tribes from the adjacent country, who live in 
the suburbs of Free Town ; and also they are rendered difficult 
by the almost universal belief in witchcraft and magic, which 
even conversion to Christianity does not always eradicate. 
Many of the native superstitions seem to have sprung naturally 
from the locality itself. Thus, a tribe called Akoos, worship 
the thunder and lightning as direct emanations from the Deity, 
and between the thunder-peals of the tropical night, their 
wild chants may be heard rising up to the honour of their 
gods. Some worship serpents and other reptiles, and feed and 
tend them with the greatest respect ; others openly worship 
the Evil One, from the motives of prudence which influence 
savages in other parts of the world. Education, however, is 
doing much to improve the mental condition of the colony, as 
sanitary measures are doing much to improve its physical 
state, and, according to recent reports, there are no less than 
fifty-eight schools belonging to Christian denominations, 
attended by nearly 7, 000. scholars. Constant intercourse with 
the West Indian colonies, to which many of the Sierra Leone 
negroes emigrate, and with the adjacent United States Free 
Eepublic of Liberia, together with the progress of trade and 
industrial occupations, are also gradually promoting the ad- 
vance and intelligence of the place, which seems likely to be- 
come more and more a nucleus of civilisation and commerce 
for Western Africa. 

The chief manufactures are those for crushing and extract- 
ing the oil from the ground-nut, boat-building, and leather- 
dressing. The chief exports to Great Britain are palm-oil, 
ground-nuts, pepper and ginger, ivory, copal, hides, coffee, 
bees- wax, arrow-root, timber, and to these is now added cotton, 
which promises to be an increasing article of commerce. The 



GOLD COAST. 335 

imports from England are mostly white and printed cottons, 
hardware, spirits, ale and wine, and India goods. 

Between the Gambia settlement and Sierra Leone are two 
small dependencies of Great Britain, the island of Bulama and 
the isles de Loss. The former is unoccupied, and the latter 
too unhealthy to be eligible for colonisation. 

GOLD COAST. 

Within 300 miles from the equator, and in a region con- 
sidered one of the hottest on the face of the globe, Natural 
lie the British settlements in Upper Guinea, on a Features. 
portion of the coast called the Gold Coast, from the quantity of 
gold found in its alluvial soil, and in the channels of its 
streams. 

The district lies on horizontal strata of old red sand- stone, 
and vegetation is exuberant on its light, sandy surface. Near 
the coast, the land is gently undulated and wooded, but 
farther inland it rises in lofty mountains, which are inter- 
spersed with extensive plains, and thick, unexplored forests, 
where elephants, tigers, and venomous reptiles enjoy an un- 
disturbed freedom. So unhealthy is the climate to Europeans, 
that none can escape an attack of fever, or ' seasoning ' as it is 
called, upon first visiting the place. The most trying time of 
the year is from June to September, when the heat is greatest, 
and when the fogs have gathered after the rainy season, which 
lasts from March to June. The coolest and healthiest period 
is from December to March, when the atmosphere is dry and 
the wind blows from the north-east. 

To this uninviting coast, where there is scarcely any shelter 

or safe anchorage, no navigable rivers, and but little 

« , ^T n t -, Settlement. 

rresn water, Europeans were first attracted by the 

prospect of a traffic in gold and slaves ; and the capital of the 

British settlements there, Cape Coast Castle, is the original 

one that was first founded by the Portuguese in 1610, and 

was captured by the English in 1661. The fortress of Cape 

Coast Castle is built upon a rock close to the sea, in 50° 5' N. 

latitude, 1° 12' W. longitude. It has a town behind it, laid 



336 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 

out in regular streets, but crowded with mud houses. Our 
other forts, viz. Accra, Annamabo, Dixcove, Christianborg 
and Friedenborg — which two last have been lately purchased 
from Denmark — also lie along the shore opposite the Gulf of 
Guinea, and between the Ivory and Slave coasts. These forts 
were at first placed under the management of the African 
Company, and until 1807 a regular supply was annually voted 
by parliament for their support, and for the encouragement of 
the slave-trade. They are still maintained at an enormous 
expense, but since the abolition the cost has been incurred for 
the express purpose of preventing the slave-trade and encour- 
aging lawful traffic. Strictly speaking, the British territory 
is limited to these forts and to the distance of a cannon-shot 
round them, but British jurisdiction, by the consent of the 
native population, extends over a space estimated at from 
6,000 to 8,000 square miles. 

Close upon this region on the north dwells the powerful and 
intelligent African race of the Ashantees ; and our disputes 
Ashantee with the kings of this tribe form the main feature in 

Wars 1807 . 

to 1826. the history of the Gold Coast settlements. These 
Ashantees originally inhabited the Kong mountains, but were 
driven from their homes by Moors from the north of Africa 
upon their refusal to adopt the Mohammedan faith, and thence 
spread themselves over the immense region of Guinea, con- 
quering the various tribes that already occupied it. Our 
first quarrel with the King of Ashantee was in 1807, on account 
of his demanding rent for our territories on the strength of a 
certain old document which was said to have been given to 
the native chiefs by the English Company on their first settle- 
ment, and by which they agreed to hire instead of purchasing 
the land ; and also on account of the English governors 
attempting to protect the native chiefs of Fantee and Asim 
against their conqueror, the Ashantee king. The English 
gave way on both points after a fierce struggle, the rents were 
paid, and the two chiefs Chibbu and Apalui were surrendered. 
Chibbu was put to death with savage tortures, and his head 
served to decorate the drum of the victorious Ashantee chief. 



GOLD COAST — TRADE WITH ASHANTEE. 337 

Again in 1822, the English took the part of the Fantees 
against their formidable enemy, and were defeated in a de- 
sperate engagement — our troops being cut to pieces, and the 
Governor himself, Sir Charles McCarthy, being amongst the 
slain. His secretary, Mr. Williams, who had been stunned 
by a ball and then roused to his senses again by the thrust of 
an Ashantee knife, was saved by the interference of an 
Ashantee captain, to whom he had once shown kindness ; but, 
with a refinement of cruelty, during a close confinement in the 
Ashantee camp, he was shut up every night with the decapi- 
tated head of his friend McCarthy, which by some process had 
been preserved so as to look as it did in life. The heart of 
the Governor is said to have been eaten by the native captains, 
in order that they might be inspired with his valour ; and, for 
the same purpose, his bones and flesh were dried, and distri- 
buted in little pieces amongst the chief warriors, to be worn 
as charms. The Ashantees, however, did not pursue their 
victory, but gave up Mr. Williams uninjured, although naked 
and with his hands tied behind him, as an earnest of their 
desire for peace. 

In 1826, the Fantees and their British allies encountered 
for the last time the Ashantee enemy ; and this time the 
English gained a decisive victory, chiefly from the fright and 
confusion occasioned by rockets, which were engines of war 
unknown before to the Ashantees. Since this defeat and the 
subsequent arrangements, our relations with the Ashantees 
have been perfectly amicable ; the king has abandoned his 
claim to the territory of the coast tribes ; a son and nephew of 
the king were sent to England to be educated, and, in 1848, 
Queen Victoria's embassy was entertained with magnificent 
hospitality by the present king, Quako Duah. The name of 
this king deserves to be remembered for his sensible rejoinder 
to an exaggerated charge of the prevalence of human sacrifices 
in his country, brought against him by the English. 1 1 re- 
member,' said he, ' that, when I was a little boy, I heard that the 
English came to the coast of Africa with their ships for cargoes 
of slaves, for the purpose of taking them to their own country 

z 



338 POSSESSIONS IN AFEICA. 

and eating them ; but I have long since known that the report 
was false ; and so it will be proved in reference to many- 
reports which have gone forth against me.' 

Our commerce with Ashantee and the interior is carried 
on through the fort of Annamabo, ten miles from Cape Coast 
Castle. The exports of the colony are chiefly palm-oil, gold- 
dust, ivory, and grains ; the imports include British manufac- 
tured goods, arms, gunpowder, spirits, and wine. Signs of 
European civilisation are fast appearing in the villages along 
the coast, in neat cottages and good roads, made under the 
superintendence of the missionaries ; and, owing principally to 
the labours of the Wesleyans, chapels and schools and indus- 
trial establishments are gradually spreading their humanising 
influence over the savage tribes. 

The Government of the Gold Coast, which, until 1850, was 
under that of Sierra Leone, now consists of a Governor and 
Commander-in-chief (salary, 1,200Z.), with an Executive and 
Legislative Council. 

LAGOS. 

In 1862, a new West African colony was created by Her 
Majesty, namely, ' The Settlement of Lagos and its Dependen- 
cies,' situated on the Slave Coast, in the kingdom of Ardrah. 
The causes which have led to the annexation of this small 
island are as follows : — 

The line of shore, from the Gold Coast to the Bight of 
Benin, has always been the head-quarters of the slave-trade, 
and the kings of Dahomey and other frontier chiefs, the most 
inveterate slave-dealers ; so much so, that to the end of the 
last century, nine-tenths of all the slaves exported were from 
this coast. But, owing to our occupation of the Gold Coast, 
and the combined effect of our squadrons, missions, and 
trade, the traffic has now been abolished along the whole of 
the coast extending from Sierra Leone to the swampy Delta of 
the Niger, excepting upon one small strip of land between the 
sea and the kingdom of Dahomey, the king of which is a 
determined slave- dealer. Now, the island of Lagos overlooks 



LAGOS. 339 

this strip ; and the present king of it, Aketoye, having imbibed 
an abhorrence of slave-dealing from the missionaries, and 
conceiving a desire to retire into private life, agreed to cede 
his kingdom to Queen Victoria in return for a pension equi- 
valent to the revenue he gained from the palm-oil and other 
produce. The treaty was accordingly concluded, the pension 
of i,000Z. per annum was agreed upon, and Mr. Freeman was 
sent out as first Governor of Lagos. Hence the English have 
gained possession of a station from which they will have the 
means of frustrating the slave-trade in its last remaining 
stronghold. 



z2 



340 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 



CHAPTER II. 

SOUTH AFRICAN COLONIES. 

CAPE COLONY. 

f 

The chief British possession in South Africa is Cape Colony, 
which comprises a territory of about 250,000 square miles, 
extending in width 450 miles from the Orange and Nu Gariep 
rivers to the Southern Ocean, and in length 600 miles west 
and east from the Atlantic to the borders of Kafirland, with a 
coast line of 1,000 miles. 

The peninsula of Southern Africa, of which this quadran- 
Naturai g u l ar region forms the extremity, is one of the most 
Features, interesting geological districts in the world, from the 
evidence it bears of the mighty primeval forces to which it 
owes its origin ; of the subsidence of the surrounding seas, and 
the upheavings of the old primary rocks of granite and crys- 
talline gneiss through the overlying strata of sandstone and 
limestone, the broken edges of which are seen on the eastern 
and western coasts. The highest point in Cape Colony is 
Table Mountain — an insulated mass of rock, rising to 3,582 
feet behind Cape Town ; but several mountain ranges traverse 
the country, the peculiarity of which is that the land lying 
between them rises in successive stages, like terraces, from 
south to north. The highest of these terraces is a vast barren 
plain, called the Great Karroo, which lies on the north 3,000 
feet above the sea-level ; and which, from the fossil remains 
found in it, would appear to have been, at some remote period, 
a lake or marsh. 

The climate of the Cape, although in general temperate, 
varies according to the elevation of the district above the sea, 
both heat and cold being greater on the higher plateaux of the 
interior. Northwards, towards the tropics, earthquakes are 
occasionally felt, and violent thunder-storms are frequent. 



CAPE COLONY. 341 

The seasons are nearly the opposite those of England ; June, 
July, and August being winter, and December, January, and 
February summer. 

The country is not inviting in its aspect. Northwards^ 
beyond the Great Karroo, there is excellent grazing country, 
and along the sea- coast is a fertile well- watered plain ; but 
the rivers are few and shallow, and navigable only for small 
craft; and the prevailing characteristics of the scenery are 
naked plains, bare rocks, and stony valleys, without grass or 
the shade of trees. Several trees have, however, been im- 
ported, such as the oak, stone-pine, and Australian gum-trees. 
But, although trees are scarce, wild flowers are in such 
variety, profusion, and beauty, that their discovery made a new 
era for botanists, and Linnaeus complained that it had thrown 
his whole system into disorder. South Africa is emphatically a 
region of Stapeliae, Mesembryanthema, and Ericaceae or heaths, 
of which last there are no less than 400 species. What adds 
to the interest of these wild flowers is that they grow more 
or less in distinct botanical districts throughout the colony. 
Thus, in the western province, the heaths, the proteas, the 
pelargoniums, stapelias, cactuses, and acacias abound ; in the 
eastern districts, the euphorbias, aloes, zamias, and strelitzias ; 
and fresh varieties are constantly being added to those already 
introduced into European gardens and conservatories. On the 
Table Mountain grows a splendid flowering plant, the Disa 
GrandifLora, not known to exist in any other locality.* The 
principal native tree near Cape Town is the Silver Tree or 
Witteboom. All the cereals thrive here, and fruits from all 
countries are readily acclimatised. The wild animals that for- 
merly abounded — the elephants, rhinoceroses, hyaenas, wolves, 
and leopards — have been driven into the remotest parts by the 
encroachments of civilisation, and have given place to the do- 
mestic animals that have been introduced from Europe and else- 
where ; all of which, especially horses and the fine-woolled 
sheep, form an important part of the wealth of the colony. 

* Mackay's Manual of Geography. 



342 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 

The first settlement of the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope, 
about 200 years ago, was the original germ of this 
large and thriving colony. It was in 1486 that the 
Portuguese navigator, Bartholomeo Diaz, at length found a 
southern ending to the enormous line of the west African 
coast ; and doubled, unperceived, the Cape of Storms — Cabo de 
los Tormentos — which indeed proved a stormy cape to Diaz, 
since he was drowned off the coast eleven years afterwards. 
His royal master, John II., gave, however, to the cape the 
more auspicious title of Cabo de Boa Esperanza — Good 
Hope — because its discovery gave a fair prospect of finding the 
long-desired sea route to India ; and for many years the cape 
and the bays in its immediate neighbourhood were used by 
the Portuguese as provision-stations for the ships that passed 
to and from the East Indies. 

The Dutch were the first to make a regular settlement at 

the Cape. In 1648, a vessel belonging to their East 

Settlement, India Company was wrecked on the coast : and two 

1648 

of the crew, having sought shelter on the shore, had 
an opportunity, while waiting for the arrival of some home- 
ward-bound ship, to find out the advantages of the place; and, 
in consequence of their representations, the Company sent out 
in 1651, about eighty persons, some of them convicts, who. 
laid the foundation of Cape Town on the shore of Table Bay 
and at the foot of Table Mountain ; and appropriated for their 
eolony the whole of the narrow peninsula, thirty miles long, of 
which the Cape of Good Hope forms the southern extremity. 
They found the country inhabited by wandering tribes called 
Quaiqua3, to whom the Dutch are said to have given the name 
of Hottentots, on account of the constant repetition in their 
dialect of the monosyllables hot and tot, uttered with a pecu- 
liar sort of guttural cluck. These Hottentots were a mild, 
inoffensive, diminutive race, lighter in complexion than the 
ordinary negroes, and with something of the Chinese character 
in their features. Those near the frontier — the wild Hotten- 
tots or Bushmen — seemed in their habits nearly related to the 



CAPE COLONY. 343 

wild animals about them — living amongst rocks and woods, 
making nests to sleep in in the bushes, springing from rock to 
rock like the antelopes, and eating reptiles and insects, and, 
moreover, distinguished by being the ugliest people on the 
face of the globe. 

The Hottentots received the Dutch with unsuspicious 
friendliness; and in return, the Dutch stole and shot their 
cattle, and tempted them, by bribes of brandy and tobacco, 
to sell them their land for useless baubles. The accounts 
handed down to us of the way in which these harmless, docile 
people were hunted down by the so-called Christians, slaugh- 
tered by wholesale, enslaved and tortured, poisoned by the 
habits of intemperance which were purposely taught them to 
render them more helpless, form one of the most sickening 
pages of history ; but by these means, in little more than a 
century, the Dutch extended their settlement to nearly its 
present boundaries, and the Hottentots were either extermi- 
nated or reduced to the condition of slaves. 

But soon many causes were at work which led to the decline 
of the : Dutch power, and the transference of the colony into 
other hands. On attempting to carry on their practices of 
cattle- stealing and aggression beyond their eastern boundary, 
the Dutch farmers, or ' boors,' encountered a tribe very differ- 
ent from the Hottentots in their capacity for resistance. These 
were the Kafirs — a fine, athletic race, who occupied, in a kind 
of feudal communities, the country towards the Indian Ocean. 
A troublesome warfare arose between these Kafirs and the 
Dutch, in consequence of the boors persisting in making their 
predatory incursions into the Kafir territory, in spite of the 
prohibitions of the Dutch authorities. At the same time, the 
Cape population had become imbued with the principles of 
the French Eevolutionists, and were waiting to welcome a 
French force to depose their Government, and hoist the cap of 
liberty — a hope in which the poor Hottentot slaves eagerly 
joined. 

England, meanwhile, had become alive to the advantages of 



344 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 

possessing such a station as the Cape of Good Hope, and 
Conquest by e( l lia % a ^ ve to tne great disadvantages of France 
England, obtaining such a stepping - stone to our Indian 
empire ; and, as Holland could no longer bear the 
expense of the colony, the British Government agreed to take it 
in the name of the Prince of Holland, then an exile in London. 
An expedition accordingly sailed under Sir James Craig, and 
Cape Town capitulated to the English in 1795. At the Peace 
of Amiens, 1803, it was again given up to the Dutch, much 
to the discontent of the inhabitants ; but, in 1806, it was 
finally invaded, and taken by the English on their own 
account, under Sir David Baird. 

The English authorities found a hard task before them on 
assuming the government. The turbulent and lawless Boors 
refused to submit, and incited the Kafirs against the English, 
in retaliation for the protection afforded by them to their Hot- 
tentot servants, who escaped from their cruel taskmasters and 
ran away in crowds to the English camps ; where, upon one oc- 
casion, one of the Hottentot leaders made this pathetic appeal: 
i Eestore the country of which our fathers have been despoiled 
by the Dutch, and we have nothing more to ask, We lived 
very contented before the Dutch plunderers came amongst us ; 
and why should we not do so again, if left to ourselves ? Has 
not the Groot Baas (the Great Master) given plenty of grass- 
roots and berries and grasshoppers for our use ? and, till the 
Dutch destroyed them, abundance of wild animals to hunt ? 
and will they not return and multiply when these destroyers 
are gone ? ' 

Instead of clearing the way for the return of the wild beasts 
and grasshoppers, the Governor (Lord Macartney) endeavoured 
to establish a policy by which whites and blacks should have 
equal rights. The Dutch missionaries and the better class of 
colonists were assisted in educating the Hottentots and in train- 
ing them as farm labourers ; Hottentot regiments were orga- 
nised, remarkable for their efficiency ; and even the little wild 
Bushmen were drilled into rank and file, and their chiefs 
were distinguished by metal-headed canes and brass gorgets, and 



KAEIK WAK. 345 

were allowed to visit the Governor at Cape Town. So much 
improvement was effected in the colony during this period of 
British rule, that the public executioner claimed a pension, 
since he had none of his customary emoluments to live upon. 

In 1834, the Bill which passed for the abolition of slavery 
throughout the British dominions, released the natives from 
their long bondage; and 35,751 slaves, Negroes and Malays, 
were emancipated within the colony. This measure also re- 
leased the Cape Government from its most troublesome enemy, 
since the greater part of the Boors forthwith sold their farms 
and migrated, either to Natal or the Orange River. 

Partly, however, through the want of a sound and humane 
policy on the part of some of the English Governors, 
the Cape had become involved in a war with the 1847 to 
Kafirs. In order to preserve peace on the frontiers, a 
proclamation was issued in 1812, that all the Kafirs in the 
Zuurveld should migrate to the farther bank of the great Fish 
River, and that the colonists should keep to the left. By this 
measure about 20,000 Kafirs, who had become partially civilised 
by European intercourse, and many of whom belonged to 
European homes as domestic servants, were violently expa- 
triated ; and heavy penalties, and even death, were inflicted on 
those who were found on the forbidden side of the border. 
The hostile feeling thus engendered led to frequent inroads of 
Kafirs on the eastern frontier ; and, in 1847, the insulting policy 
of the Governor, Sir Harry Smith, towards the Kafir chiefs, 
tended to bring affairs to a crisis, and war began in earnest. 
Graham's Town was fortified, and all the colonists between the 
ages of 15 and 20 were ordered to rise en masse and defend 
the frontier. This i little war,' as it was called, lasted six 
years, and cost England a million and a half sterling, and ended 
in 1853 by the submission of the chief Sandilli. Since that 
time the colony has enjoyed tranquillity, and the British go- 
vernment and protection were extended over the large district 
called British Kaffraria, which subsequently was made a de- 
pendency of the Empire. 

The present boundaries of Cape Colony, as defined above. 



346 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 

were fixed by proclamation of July 5, 1848. The whole 
Present territory is divided into 10 western and 10 eastern 
Condition. coun ti e s or divisions, the names of which show 
a curious mingling of English and Dutch. The western 
divisions are : The Cape, Stellenbosch, Zwellendam, Caledon, 
Worcester, Clanwilliam, Paarl, Malmsbury, George, and Beau- 
fort ; the eastern are : Witenhage, Port Elizabeth, Graaf Rey- 
net, Cradock, Colesbery, Somerset, Albany, Fort Beaufort, 
Victoria, and Albert. Cape Town is the capital of the colony, 
and Graham's Town in Albany the chief town of the eastern 
counties. 

The present population, which numbers 248,000, may be 
divided into three classes — the Africanders, or descendants of 
the old Dutch settlers ; the English, or people of English ex- 
traction ; and the coloured races : besides whom there are Ger- 
mans, Spaniards, and a few of other nations. The Dutch are 
chiefly agricultural; the British are mostly engaged in commerce 
or in official capacities. The coloured races, who form about 
half the population, are for the most part mixed breeds of 
Negro, Malay, and Dutch. There are but few left of the 
genuine Hottentots, and the Bushmen can now only be found 
roaming the desert along the northern boundary. Although 
the black people are now their own masters, they hold univer- 
sally a servile position ; and, lazy as they naturally are, find 
occupation as servants and labourers of all kinds, mainly be- 
cause they can live upon wages that would starve a European. 

The country is almost entirely an agricultural one, and the 
colony suffers from the settlers confining themselves almost 
exclusively to the production of the two staples of wool and 
wine— in the east wool, and in the west wool and wine. Thou- 
sands of acres of what might be splendid corn-land may be 
seen lying waste, or devoted to sheep-grazing and vine-grow- 
ing ; besides which, the agriculturists are of the sleepiest order 
of their class, content with bullock-wagons, and even slow to 
adopt artificial irrigation in a land where for months not a drop 
of rain falls. A further hindrance to progress is said to arise 
from the law of inheritance peculiar to the settlement, which 



CAPE TOWN. 347 

requires the paternal estate to be divided into equal portions 
among the children : hence a number of small proprietors 
live, entirely upon the land, but in too limited a capacity to 
improve it. A railroad is now in process of construction, 
which, it is hoped, will stimulate all industrial pursuits. 

Cape Town is a populous city. Nearly all the houses are 
white-stuccoed, with flat roofs and verandahs. Except for its 
broad parallel streets, intersecting one another at right angles, 
which are the same as those originally laid out, the town re- 
tains little of its old Dutch aspect. The oaks and firs that 
were planted along the streets have been cut down by the 
practical English, as being very much in the way of business ; 
and the streams that ran down in babbling brooklets from 
Table Mountain, have been collected in reservoirs for the use 
of the town, and poison the air as they creep along open, filthy 
gutters. The town is exposed to extreme heat from its facing 
the noon-day sun on the north, and being backed by the naked 
Table Mountain ; while occasionally the south-east wind, laden 
with hot dust, literally smothers the place. 

With some physical disadvantages, there are indications 
of the town being intellectually on the advance. In 1852, 
a liberal Constitution was granted to the colony, consist- 
ing of a Governor (salary, 5,000Z.) and Legislative Council of 
15 members, and House of Assembly of 46 members, represent- 
ing the town and country districts. These representative 
members are paid for their attendance in Parliament at the 
rate of about 50Z. each, and require no property qualification. 
The qualification for the members of the Legislative Council 
is the possession of unencumbered property of the value of 
2,0001. 

Cape Town was made a bishopric in 1847 (income, 800Z.). 
Graham's Town, which at first was included in the Cape Town 
diocese, was made into a separate bishopric for the eastern pro- 
vinces in 1853 (income, 682Z. 10s.). Churches and chapels of 
most of the Christian denominations are supported by the 
colonial Government. Most of the natives are Mohammedans. 
Colleges and schools, both public and private, are conducted 



348 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 

on the most liberal principles, and many of them maintained 
by Government ; and the late Governor (Sir George Grey), in 
presenting his magnificent private collection of books to the 
public library of Cape Town, pronounced his belief that South 
Africa was destined to become a great country, and Cape Town 
its chief centre of education. 

NATAL. 

Natal, so called from the coast having been first seen by 
Natural Vasco de Gama on Christmas-day, is a British colony 
Features. on ^ e south-east coast of Africa, lying between 
29°20 / and30 o 50 , S.lat.,29 o 40'and31°25 / E.long.,andhaving 
an area of about 20,000 square miles, or nearly three times 
the size of Wales. It is bounded on the north-west by the 
Drachenburg, or Quathlamba mountains, which rise to the 
height of 5,000 feet, and from which the land slopes gradually 
south-east to the Indian Ocean. On the north-east is the river 
Umtacouna, and on the south-west the river Tugala. The 
rivers, which are numerous, all run eastward into the ocean. 
Several of them abound in hippopotamuses, and small croco- 
diles infest the Tugala. Lions and leopards are occasionally 
met with prowling about in the mountain ravines ; and hyaenas 
of a peculiarly ferocious aspect, jackals, wild dogs, the smaller 
antelopes, and porcupines are numerous. The elephant, which 
once was common, has now retired beyond the Gariep, or 
Orange River. 

The climate is healthy and pleasant, and less liable to 
drought than that of the Cape ; and the soil is generally more 
fertile. It is prolific in maize, but Natal does not otherwise 
rank high as a corn- grow ing country. Coffee is beginning to 
be grown, and tea is cultivated from plants brought from 
Assam. The first sample of sugar was made in 1850, and now 
10,000 acres are planted with the cane, and forty mills, mostly 
steam, are employed in the manufacture. Great efforts are 
being made to grow cotton, for which the soil has been proved 
to be admirably adapted, and only capital seems to be needed 
to render it a staple product. The silk-worm thrives here. 



KAFIBS OF NATAL. 349 

Arrow-root, tobacco, spices, and all kinds of vegetables abound. 

Of fruits, the banana, pine-apple, orange, citron, mulberry, 

peach, apricot, grape, pear, apple, and quince may be had in 

profusion. 

The colony was first founded by the Dutch boors, who threw 

up their farms in Cape Colony and emigrated north- 

t . t , . P .,. *\ -. D rn , Settlement. 

wards, with their families and cattle. The greater 

number of these established themselves at Port Natal in 1839, 
and proclaimed it an independent republic, hoisting there the 
tricolour nag. But the English Government did not recog- 
nise their independence ; and, by order of the Governor of the 
Cape (Sir George Napier), Port Natal was taken possession of 
by English troops in 1842. The British colony of Natal was 
established by proclamation in 1845. 

At first, Natal formed part of the Cape settlement ; but, in 
1856, it was erected into a distinct colony, under a Lieutenant- 
Governor. It is said to be a solitary instance of a colony having 
been established by Great Britain without cost to Imperial 
funds ; since the original loan which started it has long since 
been repaid.* 

The population numbers about 157,000, of whom about 
100,000 are natives, and other coloured races. The 

i . •♦-Mi t -r^ -i i • Inhabitants. 

whites are principally, the old Dutch settlers and their 
descendants, or English immigrants. The natives belong to 
the tribe of Amazoolu or Zulu Kafirs, whose own territory lies 
to the north of Natal. Kafir, or CafFre, is an Arabic word, 
meaning i infidel,' and was applied originally by the Arabian 
and other Mussulman traders of the Indian seas to the people 
dwelling on the east coast of Africa ; and was adopted after- 
wards by the Portuguese, Dutch, and English. But the general 
name of Kafir includes several distinct nations, originally of 
one stock, namely, the Amakosa, the Amatimba, the Ama- 
ponda, and the Zulus, who are supposed to extend as far north 
as the Zambesi Eiver. 
. Since the Kafirs have no records, and but few traditions, 

* Colonial Office Boole, 1862. 



350 POSSESSIONS IN AFKICA. 

their origin remains obscure. Barrow supposed them to be 
derived from wandering Bedouin Arabs from the north-east ; 
others trace a resemblance to the Jews in their abhorrence of 
pork, their observance of the rite of circumcision, and freedom 
from idolatry. The Zulus themselves are a fine athletic race, 
who migrated not long since from the mountains in the north, 
and acquired great influence over the other tribes, under their 
chief Chaka. 

The Kafirs vary in complexion, from a yellowish-brown to 
a jet-black. Their hair is frizzled rather than woolly, the nose 
aquiline, the lips thick. The women are among the hand- 
somest in Africa. The Kafir government is a sort of clanship, 
each tribe being divided into Kraals, or villages, containing 
from ten to twenty families in separate huts, who are ruled over 
by a petty chief; these kraal chiefs being subject to the higher 
or district chiefs, who are again subject to the great chief of 
the whole tribe, the Umkumkani. This great chief is the 
nominal possessor of all the land and cattle of his tribe. All 
the land is in common, except a small patch for each family ; 
but no one can gather his first-fruits or kill his cattle without 
permission from the Umkumkani, who claims a portion as his 
right. The Kafir huts are hemispherical, made of boughs 
covered with thatch and plastered with (ilay ; and their furni- 
ture is generally a few mats and earthenware pots, a calabash, 
or a rush basket, woven so closely as to contain liquids. The 
Kafirs have no written laws, but recognise certain long-esta- 
blished principles, which even the great chief cannot infringe 
with impunity. They have no form of worship, but acknow- 
ledge the existence of a Supreme Being.* Much of their alle- 
giance they seem to have transferred to the British Governor, 
whom they regard as their sovereign protector ; and to the 
whites they make excellent servants. 

The Lieutenant-Governor of Natal (salary, 1,200Z.) is under 
the control of the Governor of the Cape. He is aided by a 
Council of Eepresentatives. Natal was erected into a bishopric 

* English Cyclopcedia. 



BRITISH KAFFRARIA. 351 

in 1853 (bishop's income, 6821. 10s.), and contains several 
churches and chapels, Episcopal, Wesleyan, and Dutch, 
besides many missionary establishments supported by volun- 
tary aid. 

The only port of the colony is D' Urban, formerly Port 
Natal. It stands on the shore of a small inlet of the sea, nearly 
enclosed by land, but affording good anchorage ; and a thriving 
town has lately sprung up at the place. Exports and imports 
have rapidly increased of late years, and the prosperity of 
Natal is said to have been promoted by the settlement there of 
several hundred Coolies. 

BRITISH EAFFRARIA. 

British Kaffraria, a large district eastward of Cape Colony, 
although under the protection of England since the close of the 
Kafir war in 1847, was not erected into a British colony until 
1860, when its boundaries were defined by letters patent under 
the great seal to lie, 'from the Windvogel Mountains and 
Kabousi Eiver to the Indian Ocean on the south, and from 
the Grand Kei Eiver on the east, to the Keiskamma and Chumi 
Eivers that separate it from Cape Colony on the west. 7 The 
land is fertile and well watered. The district is divided into 
counties ; military forts have been erected at several points, and 
harbour works are in progress. Its seaport, at the mouth of 
Buffalo river, has been named East London. 

The government is vested in the Governor of the Cape, 
together with an Executive Council ; the Governor being enti- 
tled to grant, subject to regulations, the waste lands of the 
Crown, and to appoint judges for the administration of the law. 



352 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 



CHAPTEE III. 

ISLANDS IN THE SURROUNDING SEAS. 
ST. HELENA. 

In the midst of the South Atlantic, 1,200 miles from the near- 
Natural est ^ an( ^ on tne coast of South Africa, and 2,000 
Features, miles from Brazil on the opposite continent, lies the 
small rocky island of St. Helena ; supposed either to be the 
topmost peak of some submarine mountain range, or, from the 
fantastic way in which its rocks have been rent to the base, to 
have owed its origin to some mighty volcanic action. The 
island is in S. latitude 15° 50', and W. longitude 5° 44'. It 
is about a third the size of the Isle of Wight, that is, 10J miles 
in length, and 6| in breadth ; and, from the sea, appears merely 
a small barren rock, girt with a range of precipitous cliffs, that 
render it inaccessible excepting at one point on the north-west. 
But, on entering it, rich forests and pleasant grassy plains are 
found to lie between the mountains ; cascades spring sparkling 
from the sides of the hills; and the climate is so delightful and 
temperate for an island in the tropics, that there seems cause 
for a sort of wondering regret, that, during the long ages, pro- 
bably no human eye had seen it, or any enjoyed possession of 
it, but the seals and sea-lions, the turtles and the wild-fowl, 
until the year 1502, when the Portuguese navigator, Juan di 
Nova Castella, caught the first glimpse of this spot in the 
ocean. 

Castella christened the island St. Helena, after the saint's 
day on which it was discovered. The first man that 
u ' inhabited it is believed to have been a Portuguese 
nobleman, Fernandez Lopez ; who, having been sent away from 
India in disgrace for some crime, dreaded so much to return to 
his native land as a culprit, that he prevailed upon the captain to 
put him on shore on this desert island, where he led a Eobinson 
Crusoe life for four years, cultivating the land and stocking it 



ST. HELENA. 353 

with the supplies of poultry, goats, pigs, game, fruits and 
vegetables that his friends sent him from home, and such as 
he was able to import from elsewhere. The existence of this 
island was kept for many years a profound secret by the Portu- 
guese, and when Cavendish was on his return from circumna- 
vigating the globe in 1588, to his surprise he touched upon this 
little oasis in the great desert of waters, and found it well 
stocked, and a town and church already built upon it. 

Such a halting-place on the way to India, where fresh pro- 
visions could be obtained, was soon eagerly sought out by 
ships of various nations, and became the scene of fierce dis- 
putes between Spaniards, Dutch, and Portuguese, some of 
whom were not content with replenishing their own stores 
there, but destroyed the plantations, so that their rivals 
might not do the same after them. The Portuguese aban- 
doned the place upon obtaining other settlements on the east 
coast of Africa, and the Dutch took possession of it in 1645 ; 
but, six years afterwards, they also gave it up on finding the 
Cape of Good Hope a more convenient station ; and it was 
soon afterwards appropriated by a British fleet belonging to the 
East India Company. Charles II. granted the Company a 
charter by which the island was added to their territories ; a fort 
was erected by the first Governor, Captain Dutton, and named 
James Port after the Duke of York ; slaves were sent from 
Madagascar to work in the plantations ; and amongst the first 
English settlers were many who had lost house and home in 
the great fire of London. The island once again fell into the 
hands of the Dutch through the treachery of a planter ;. but it 
was quickly regained, and, in 1833, it was transferred from the 
Company to the British Crown. 

During the war-time at the beginning of this century, 
St. Helena was strongly fortified in order to render it a safe 
garrison for the protection of British commerce ; and its 
almost impregnable nature, joined to its remoteness, caused it 
to be selected by the allied sovereigns of Europe as the place 
of exile for Napoleon Buonaparte ; and here, at the country 
residence of the Governor at Longwood, he lived the last six 

A A 



354 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 

years of his life as a prisoner of war, and here he died, 
May 6, 1821. 

At the present time the island is a valuable haven, open to 
the ships of all nations to recruit on their long voyage 
across the Atlantic ; and about a thousand ships annually 
touch there. Nature seems specially to have fitted the place 
for a provision store. Large supplies of live-stock are always 
in readiness, and fish abound on the coasts. The fertile soil 
produces abundance of vegetables of all kinds, and often three 
crops of potatoes in a year. In the sheltered valleys nearly all 
the tropical and European fruits thrive well ; and the common 
blackberry, introduced in 1780, spread itself so rapidly that 
an order had to be issued for rooting it up. 

The only town and port in the island is James Town, on 
the north-west coast, the seat of the Government establish- 
ment, and fortified with strong batteries. It stands in a 
valley, called James Valley, which opens on to the sea, and 
gradually slopes upwards towards the eastern part of the 
island until it ends in the table-land of Longwood, which con- 
sists of 1,500 acres of fine land at a height of 2,000 feet above 
the sea. 

The population, numbering at the last census about 8,000, 
is composed, besides the English residents, of the descendants 
of seamen of various nations who have landed from time to 
time ; and includes Chinese, Malays, British, Africans, and 
many liberated slaves from the West Indian colonies. Most of 
them live by supplying fresh provisions to ships. The 
Governor is a military officer, and is aided by Executive and 
Legislative Councils. The island used to form part of the 
diocese of the Cape of Good Hope ; but it was made a 
bishopric in 1859, and has six resident clergymen. Many 
schools are provided by the Government, the Baptist Mission, 
and the Benevolent Society. 

ASCENSION. 

Six hundred and eighty-five miles to the north-west of 
St. Helena there is a small island in the South Atlantic, of 



ASCENSION. 355 

the volcanic origin of which there is no doubt. Of a triangular 
form, about seven miles long and six wide, it stands above 
the surface of the sea a mass of lava, rocks, scoriae, and gritty 
limestone, thrown together in a confused chaos, with many 
burnt-out craters distinct upon the summits of the hills. 
There is scarcely a trace of verdure on the surface. Never- 
theless, magnificent butterflies brighten up the barren scene 
with their fluttering spots of colour, and the rocks form a 
home for countless wild fowl. 

This desert island was first found by the Portuguese in 
1501, on the day of Ascension; and was chiefly used in after 
times as a place of rendezvous for smuggling vessels from our 
American colonies, which met here the ships returning from 
India. When Napoleon was in confinement at St. Helena, 
the English Government thought it expedient, in order to 
render his custody more secure, to take possession of Ascen- 
sion as a military station. Accordingly barracks, and store- 
houses, and look-out stations were constructed out of the lava 
of the rocks, the pulverised coral of the beach serving for 
cement, and a detachment of marines with seventeen guns was 
left in charge of the place. This garrison so exerted them- 
selves that the island soon began to wear a habitable appear- 
ance. Eoads were constructed, the land was partially 
cultivated, shafts were sunk in the mountains, the water from 
the springs was conveyed in iron pipes to the fort, domestic 
animals were reared, and fruits and vegetables grown. 
The food which the island naturally supplies is the fish on the 
coasts, the eggs of the sea-swallow, which are considered ex- 
cellent eating and are collected by thousands, and enormous 
turtles, some of which weigh from 200 to 800 lbs. each. 

Ascension is now used as a coal depot for steamers on their 
way to the Cape, Indies, and Australia ; and also it is a vic- 
tualling station for the African squadron employed for the 
suppression of the slave-trade, and contains a hospital for 
sick seamen. Ascension forms part of the diocese of St. 
Helena. The officer in charge is the Governor for the time 
being. 

a a 2 



356 POSSESSIONS IN AFRICA. 



THE MAURITIUS. 

Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean, between 19° 45' 
and 20° 33' S. lat., and between 56° and 57° E. long. It has 
an area of about 676 square miles ; that is, it is nearly the 
same size as the county of Worcester. Fragments of lava, 
pumice, and other volcanic substances, and the nature of its 
irregular surface, prove it to be of volcanic origin. A sin- 
gular coral reef nearly encircles the island, running parallel 
to the shores at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, in 
which there are several breaks sufficiently wide to allow 
vessels of all sizes to approach. 

Mauritius was first discovered by the Portuguese in 1507, 
at which time it was covered with woods ; and it does not 
appear that any settlement was made upon it until about 
1640, when the Dutch, after they had established themselves at 
the Cape, made it a recruiting station for vessels bound to the 
East Indies, having previously appropriated the island, and 
named it Mauritius in honour of Prince Maurice, stadtholder 
of the Netherlands. But the colony became troubled in con- 
sequence of the Dutch having transported there as slaves some 
negroes and maroons from Madagascar, who escaped from 
their masters and concealed themselves in the mountain forests 
of the interior, where they multiplied and annoyed so much 
the Dutch settlers on the coast that they abandoned the island 
to them in 1712. Shortly after this it was taken by the 
French, who formed a settlement at Port North -West, and 
changed its name to Isle of France ; merely using the place, 
however, for many years, as a ship station, the inhabitants 
being a disorderly mixture of maroons, pirates, and adven- 
turers of all nations. 

But, in 1746, a change came over the face of the settlement 
in consequence of the appointment of M. de la Bourdonnais 
as Governor, who so improved the colony that Bernarclin de 
St. Pierre, who went out as an engineer to the Isle of France 
and lived there for two years, selected it for his ideal of a 
happy moral society planted in one of Nature's most beautiful 



MAUKITIUS. 357 

spots, and in his tale of 6 Paul and Virginia,' has made us 
familiar with its shaddoc groves and palm forests, and with 
the name of its energetic Governor, M. de la Bourdonnais. 

Towards the end of the century the revolutionary principles 
of the French Government led to fatal disunion in the settle- 
ment. A decree was issued by the Assembly at Paris for the 
instant and total abolition of slavery in all the French 
colonies ; and, since in the Isle of France the slaves amounted 
to about three-fourths of the population, the order was vehe- 
mently resisted by the master-classes. A long struggle con- 
sequently ensued between the masters and the far more 
numerous partisans of liberty and equality. In the midst of 
the contest the British Lion stepped in ; and, in two expeditions 
— the first of them headed by the Marquis Wellesley — com- 
pleted the capture of the place in 1810 ; and possession of the 
island and its dependencies was confirmed to England at the 
Treaty of Paris, 1814. 

The population, 307,000, still maintains its multifarious 
character. The whites are mostly descendants of the old 
French settlers, and there is a large miscellaneous class, 
amongst whom Chinese predominate. The freed negroes are 
either dying out or have left the island ; and their place has 
been supplied by Coolies, who come from India in great 
numbers, and return as soon as they have made a little 
money. Mauritius is said to be the place where Coolie 
labour has been most extensively tested ; and their presence 
has led to so great an increase in the sugar manufacture, that 
sugar is now the staple of the island. Chinese are also em- 
ployed largely in the cultivation. 

Mauritius was made a bishopric in 1854 (bishop's income, 
1,000/. ; number of clergy, fourteen). The only town is Port 
Louis, built on the old French station on the north-west. It 
contains a citadel, barracks, court-house, bazaar, royal col- 
lege and Government schools, theatre, hospital, docks, and a 
public library of more than 60,000 volumes, chiefly French. 
The Legislature consists of Governor (salary 7,000/.), Executive 
and Legislative councils. It is a provision of the constitution 



358 POSSESSIONS IN AFEICA. 

that the inhabitants should preserve their religion, laws, and 
customs. 

SEYCHELLES. 

The dependencies of the Mauritius, which also passed into 
the possession of the British in 1815, are the Seychelles 
group in the Indian Ocean, S. latitude 3° 40' and 4° 50', E. 
longitude 55° 10' and 56°. They are a cluster of about thirty 
small islands, lying upon a kind of platform of coral and sand 
which extends under the sea about 200 miles. The largest of 
the group, sixteen miles long, is called Mahe, after Mahe de 
la Bourdonnais, the Governor of Mauritius, who first ordered 
it to be explored; the next in size are Praisling, Silhouetta, 
Digne, and Curieuse ; the rest are uninhabited, and are 
visited merely for the sake of the turtles and cocoa-nuts. 

The surface of the islands is composed of granite rocks and 
ravines, with scarcely any level ground ; but wild fruits and 
vegetables grow luxuriantly in the thin soil. Amongst the 
natural productions are pine-apples, cocoa-nuts, and cucum- 
bers, and also a large nut of a singular kind, called coco-de- 
mar from its having once been supposed to grow at the bottom 
of the sea. It is an immense nut, weighing from 20 to 25 
pounds; and contains in its thick shell a white jelly-like 
substance, eatable but tasteless. Eice and maize are the 
grains chiefly cultivated ; and cotton, coffee, tobacco, and the 
sugar-cane are also grown. 

Seychelles forms part of the diocese of Mauritius. The 
capital town is Mahe, on the north-east side of the island of 
Mahe, and the residence of the Government agent, who is 
subordinate to the Governor of Mauritius. The inhabitants of 
the whole group number about 7,000, of whom about 600 are 
whites. As our trading intercourse increases with the east 
coast of Africa, it is believed that this possession will become 
of considerable value. 



359 



PART VI. 
POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. 



The British possessions in the western hemisphere are, 
British North America and the Bermudas ; the West Indian 
Colonies ; British Honduras ; British Guiana ; and the Talk- 
land Isles. 



CHAPTER I. 

BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

The British possessions in North America comprise a terri- 
tory of about 4,000,000 square miles, extending from the 
United States on the south to the indefinite regions of ice in 
the polar seas on the north ; and from the Pacific Ocean and 
Russian America on the west, to the shores of the Atlantic 
on the east. 

Of this immense region, larger than the whole of Europe by 
at least 200,000 square miles, the greater portion is rather a 
land of promise for British enterprise than of actual British 
occupation ; our settlements at present being almost entirely 
confined to portions on the east and west. On the east are 
Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the islands of 
Newfoundland, Prince Edward, and Cape Breton ; on the 
west are British Columbia and Vancouver's Island ; and the 
whole of the interlying region is the Hudson Bay Territory 
— a vast and savage domain, where a thinly-scattered 



360 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

population of Esquimaux and Indians lead a wandering life, 
running down the reindeer, the bear, and the elk, trapping 
the beaver and the otter, spearing the seal on the coast, and 
haunting the streams for fish ; and where the only Europeans 
are a few thousand traders, who keep up establishments here 
and there for receiving furs and skins and other produce from 
the natives. 

The peculiarity of the surface of British North America 
is the large proportion that the water bears to the 
of the land, and the coast line to the country, in conse- 

quence of its inland seas and the magnitude of its 
lakes and rivers. Penetrating into the very heart of the 
continent is the sea called Hudson's Bay, nearly as large as 
the Mediterranean ; and to the west of this stretches an im- 
mense plain, which is traversed in the direction of its greatest 
length from south-east to north-west by a chain of lakes of 
unequalled number and magnitude. These lakes for the most 
part belong to the basin of the river St. Lawrence, which 
mighty stream fertilises the whole of Canada in its course 
of 1,800 miles, and, together with the lakes, forms one of the 
most magnificent water communications in the world. By 
means of it, vessels are able to traverse an extent of water 
equal to the distance between Europe and America. 

The plain in which these lakes and rivers are situated, 
rises gradually westward, until it culminates in the Eocky 
Mountains — a lofty chain increasing in height towards the 
south, and traversing on the west the elevated plateau of 
which British Columbia forms a part. North of the central 
plain and east of Hudson's Bay, in the district of Labrador, 
are chiefly barren and stony regions, where the scanty vege- 
tation and severe winter cold offer little temptation to the 
colonist to dispute possession with the native Esquimaux ; 
and where the number of inhabitants is so few that it reduces 
the population of the whole of British America to only about* 
the same as that of Scotland at the present time ; averaging 
in America about one person to every square mile. 

In geological structure, there is a striking analogy between 



CLIMATE AND VEGETATION. 361 

British North America and the corresponding latitudes of 
Europe and Asia. In both, there is an extensive G- eo i og i Ca i 
formation of the granite and crystalline rocks ; and, Character. 
in the more northern latitudes, the fossiliferous rocks belong 
either to the old Silurian strata, or to those which contain 
shells only of recent species ; none of the intervening forma- 
tions being found throughout immense tracts. A large portion 
of Britain is exactly similar in structure to the lands on the 
opposite continent ; the Silurian rocks are in many cases the 
same, and are followed in ascending order by the Devonian 
and Carboniferous formations. The coal-fields of New Eng- 
land are precisely similar to those in Wales, 3,000 miles 
distant. Besides this, the general direction of the rocks is 
the same, that is, from north-east to south-west ; and, in the 
British Isles, North Europe, and North America, large lakes 
are formed along the junction of the strata. 

From these and other indications, it is supposed that, at 
some remote period, the two continents were united ; and that, 
when no ocean divided us from our sister-land in the west, 
the giant quadrupeds of the old world took advantage of the 
overland route, and made their way over ice or land until 
they found a suitably capacious home in the vast central 
plains of America. Some of them, such as the mastodon, a 
kind of elephant, and some species of horse and colossal rumi- 
nant animals, have probably roamed over the prairies since 
the existence of the Indians ; and their skeletons are left in the 
salt marshes or licks. 

There is also much similarity in the vegetation of the two 
continents, especially in the arctic regions, and most Climat e and 
of the trees and plants are common to both ; but Vegetation, 
peculiarities in the climate and conformation of the land 
in this part of America have, in some degree, given a speci- 
alty to its flora. Thus, there is a difference in climate and 
vegetation at the two extremities of British North America. 
On the eastern side, the summers are warmer and the winters 
colder than in the same latitudes in Europe, partly because 
the prevailing wind is the westerly, which blows from the 



362 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

Atlantic, and brings damp to western Europe, but blows 
from the land in east America, and makes the atmosphere 
dry : while, on the west coast of America, the prevailing winds 
blow from the ocean, and thus render the climate much more 
like that of the Old World ; and, probably as a consequence of 
this, there are fewer species of plants that are not common to 
both, found on the east than on the west of America. 

Generally speaking, wooded regions occupy the east and 
west, and between them lies a vast prairie region of shrubs 
and grasses. Taking the region as a whole, it is characterised 
by the predominance of the conferee, that is, trees with 
needle-shaped leaves and rudimentary flowers, such as pine, 
fir, and larch ; and also of trees with true leaves and flowers, 
but still of a low order, and belonging, probably, to the eocene 
period, such as oak, birch, beech, poplar, chestnut. As 
regards shrubs and plants, it is distinguished by the preva- 
lence of the species belonging to the aster tribe, and by the 
numerous varieties of the whortleberry species, of which we 
only possess a few, such as bilberry, cowberry and cranberry. 
Also negatively it is characterised by the total absence of 
the heath tribes, and by the scarcity of cruciform and um- 
belliferous plants. And there is a certain gradation in these 
flora. Close upon the arctic regions are immense forests of 
black and white spruce, with an undergrowth of reindeer 
moss ; but, farther south, these conifers become mixed with the 
oak, birch, elm, maple, willow, and poplar ; while the countries 
below the 45th parallel, including the Canadas, are distin- 
guished by botanists as the region of asters and solidagos, 
from these being the plants in greatest predominance. 

In the zoology of the two continents, there is also the same 
analogy. The white and brown bear live in solitary 
state in their ice regions round the pole. Then, 
southward from the shores of the polar ocean, the lichens 
and mosses are pasture for the reindeer and polar hare; 
the southern limit of the reindeer being the latitude of 
Quebec in America, and the Baltic in Europe. The fur- 
bearing animals, the black bear, lynx, racoon, red fox, beaver, 



ANIMALS. 363 

badger, ermine, and musk rat, are mostly the same as in 
Siberia, and live principally in the great northern forests — 
several species never passing the 65th degree of N. latitude. 
The elk, or moose deer, is only to be found in the regions of 
the "willow and aspen, upon which it feeds. The wapiti, the 
next largest of the elk tribe, lives in the prairies on both sides of 
the Eocky Mountains. The grizzly bear, the fiercest and most 
powerful of his species, inhabits the whole range of these 
mountains. The musk ox and bison are animals peculiar to 
America. The musk ox roams as far north as Parry Isles 
and Banks' Land, but is seldom seen below the 60th parallel ; 
while the range of the shaggy bison is entirely south of this 
latitude, and begins where that of the musk ox ends. 

Eick as America is in domestic animals, it has received 
nearly the whole of them from Europe; and has contributed in 
return scarcely any new species, excepting the turkey, the 
llama, and alpaca, and a few varieties of dogs. The multitude 
of our domestic species, nearly all of them belonging to the 
largest kinds of quadrupeds and birds, which have been propa- 
gated throughout the new continent within the short period 
that has elapsed since the discovery of America, has been ad- 
duced by Sir Charles Lyell as a striking instance of the extent 
to which man himself is instrumental in the distribution and 
modification of species, and of the amazing rapidity with which 
great changes may be brought about in the animal life of the 
globe, when the conditions are favourable. 

The extraordinary herds of wild cattle and horses which 
overrun many of the American plains had their origin in a few 
pairs first carried over by the early settlers. The black cattle, 
which are established over the whole continent, from Canada 
to Paraguay, date from the second voyage of Columbus to St. 
Domingo. Hogs, which were introduced by Columbus at the 
same time, in the space of fifty years had spread themselves 
from 25° N. latitude to 40° S. latitude. Sheep, goats, dogs, 
cats, and rats have multiplied enormously — the rats having 
been imported unintentionally in ships. The European dogs 
have in many cases become wild in America, and have taken 



364 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

to hunting in packs, like wolves and jackals, and destroying 
the hogs and calves and foals of the wild cattle and horses ; 
while in return, it is said that these civilised canines have 
taught the Esquimaux dogs how to bark — the native dogs 
having been mute before the coming of these noisy foreigners. 
The aborigines of these regions are the Esquimaux and 
Indians. The Esquimaux are confined to the higher 
latitudes. The Indians, though of numerous tribes, 
belong all to the great American group which occupies the 
whole of the New Continent, from 62° N. latitude to the 
Straits of Magellan. They are generally reddish-brown or 
copper-colour, with handsome slender forms, long black hair, 
deep-set black eyes, high cheek-bones, and aquiline noses. 
They live by hunting and fishing, and are averse to steady 
labour, although generally intelligent and well-disposed. To 
their enemies they are ferocious and unsparing ; and, in com- 
mon with most Indian tribes, wear the scalps of the slain in 
token of victory. As a rule, the prairie Indians are the finest 
races, and the coast Indians the most dissolute and dirty. 
Slavery is common with all the tribes, and the greatest chief 
is he who possesses most slaves and most horses. i An Indian,' 
says Mrs. Jameson, ' is respectable in his own community in 
proportion as his wife and children look fat and well-fed ; this 
being proof of his prowess and success as a hunter, and his 
consequent riches.' 



365 



CHAPTEE II. 

CANADA. 

The Province of Canada, divided into Upper or West Canada, 
and Lower or East Canada, is a tract of country oc- 

_ . . . 1 . i t • Boundaries. 

cupymg the south-east of British America, and having 
an area of about 350,000 square miles — about four times the 
size of Great Britain. No precise boundaries have yet been 
affixed between this province and the other British possessions 
to the south and west of Hudson Bay ; but Canada is generally 
considered to include all that country north of the Lakes 
Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, which lies in 
the basin of the St. Lawrence, and is drained by the streams 
that flow into that river. According to this measurement the 
most northerly point of Canada is between 52° and 53° N. 
latitude, i. e., one degree higher than the latitude of London ; 
the most eastern point is Cape G-aspe, 64° 15' W. longitude ; its 
western extremity is Goose Lake, 48° 5' N. latitude, and 90° 
14' W. longitude ; while the United States form the boundary 
on the south and partly on the east ; the average breadth from 
north to south being about 300 miles, and the length, from 
Lake Superior to the island of Anticosti, about 1,000 miles. 
Upper, or Canada West, is the portion lying north of the great 
lakes, about 100,000 square miles in area ; Lower, or Canada 
East, adjoins the United States on the south-east, and occu- 
pies both sides of the river St. Lawrence, after it issues from 
Lake Ontario ; area, 205,863 square miles. 

The latitude of the Canadas thus corresponds to that of 
the south of the British Isles, France, and the north 
of Spain ; but, owing to peculiarities in its surface 
and position, the climate has far greater fluctuations and ex- 
tremes of heat and cold than the climate of European countries 
under the same parallels, and not only ranges in annual tern- 



366 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

perature from 36° below zero to a tropical summer heat, but 
the thermometer has been known to fall 59 degrees in 36 hours, 
and a change of 30 degrees in the course of a day is very 
common. But the extreme cold of winter is rendered endur- 
able by the usual absence of winds, and the intense summer 
heat is less trying and relaxing from the absence of vapour 
and the exceeding clearness of the atmosphere ; and the dry 
air and bright blue skies of Western Canada are delightful 
to the British emigrant, in comparison with the fogs and 
drizzling rain he leaves behind him. So dry, indeed, is the 
air, that metals seldom rust by exposure ; and this dryness 
is a remarkable circumstance in a district so abounding with 
water. 

Corresponding with the excessive temperature, atmospheric 
phenomena are of a marked character. Thunder-storms are 
frequent, and often terrifically violent ; water-spouts are some- 
times formed on the larger lakes ; the aurora borealis is more 
common and far more brilliant than it is ever seen in Europe ; 
and also there are many indications of former violent subter- 
ranean convulsion. In many places there are curious rents in 
the earth, now covered with underwood, which were supposed 
to have been left by the tremendous earthquake of 1663, 
which extended over 180,000 miles, and was felt almost with- 
out intermission for nearly half a year, overwhelming, we are 
told, a chain of mountains 300 miles long, and changing the 
tract into a plain. The rocks, which obtrude over every part 
of the surface except in the marshy districts, and the preva- 
lence of granite in inclined strata, bear evidence to volcanic 
action in remoter times. 

To Canada East, belong all the mountains that deserve the 
name. The Mealy Mountains, between Hudson Bay 
' and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, rise to 1,500 feet, and 
are covered with perpetual snow ; and the land is traversed 
from north-east to south-west by the Green Mountains, and 
the Notre Dame, 3,768 feet high. But in Canada West, the 
rocks which rise from the shores of the lakes are as imposing 
as many mountain heights ; for instance, the Thunder Moun- 



NATURAL FEATURES OF CANADA. 367 

tain, a rock standing so close upon Lake Superior as to form 
the margin of the lake, lifts up its bleak bold face perpendicu- 
larly to its full height of 1,200 feet, and is a stupendous object 
rather from its shape. and position than from its magnitude. 

To Canada West belongs the grand series of lakes which is 
the most striking feature of the countr y. Nearly a Lakes and 
third of the whole area of Canada is covered with the Rivers. 
waters of its five great lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, 
and Ontario. These lakes, threaded upon the St. Lawrence, are 
in fact enormous expansions of the stream, and follow the level 
of the river as it descends eastward from its source above Lake 
Superior to its outlet in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. And it is 
the different level of the lakes that gives rise to the magnificent 
phenomenon of the Niagara Falls. 

First, the river, under the name of St. Louis, enters Lake 
Superior, the most westerly of the lakes. This lake stands 
upon the highest level, 627 feet above the Atlantic, and is the 
largest fresh -water lake at present known in the world. It is 
400 miles long and 160 broad, and is supposed to be 1,200 feet 
in depth ; and its waters rise during a storm in waves almost 
resembling those of the ocean. At the eastern end of the lake 
its accumulated waters rush out in the river which is here 
called St. Mary; and, after a course of 40 miles, in which they 
make a descent, partly by rapids, of 32 feet, they fall into Lake 
Huron ; thence the stream issues on the south, and, under the 
name of St. Clair and Detroit, descends to Lake Erie, making 
a further fall of 30 feet. Issuing from Lake Erie on the north, 
the river takes the name of the Niagara; and here the whole 
volume of water has to make a precipitous plunge of ^ iao - ara 
160 feet down into the next lake, Ontario, which lies Fall s. 
only 234 feet above the Atlantic. And here it is that the pecu- 
liar nature of the rocky chasm through which the waters dash 
into the lake below, and the impetus they have gained in their 
long descent, render the Falls of Niagara so wonderfully striking. 
As it approaches the edge of the precipice, the torrent is about a 
mile wide ; and a small island, Goat's Island, divides the stream 
into two- — one branch of which, 375 yards wide, falls over the 



368 BEITISH NORTH AMEBIC A. 

precipice 162 feet on the American side ; while the other, 700 
yards broad, is carried over a crescent-shaped rock on the Ca- 
nadian side, and forms the Horse- Shoe Falls, 149 feet in depth. 
This vast body of water, rushing over at the rate of about 710,000 
tons per minute, rebounds to a great height from the rocks 
below, converted into snowy foam, which appears in the far 
distance like a cloud or rainbow, according to the position of 
the sun ; while the roar of the cataract is heard to the extent of 
fifteen miles. Four miles beyond the whirl and turmoil of the 
cataract, the river, now called the Iroquois, is seen pursuing 
a quiet and placid course ; and, on reaching Montreal, first takes 
the name of St. Lawrence. Eeceiving on its way the great 
river Ottawa, which divides the two Canadas, the St. Maurice, 
and many other tributary streams, it meets the tide of the 
Atlantic, and its waters become brackish, near the town of 
Three Eivers, more than 400 miles from the ocean ; and a little 
below Quebec the river becomes so broad and deep that ships 
of the line were able to approach during the Canadian War 
and to help in the reduction of that city. 

Besides these five principal lakes, a number of smaller lakes 
lie in the basin of the St. Lawrence, and are drained by its 
tributaries. The chief of these are the St. Clair, between Lakes 
Huron and Erie ; the St. John, drained by the river Saguenay ; 
the Megantic, drained by the Chaudiere ; Lakes Kempt and 
Matawin, by the river St. Maurice ; Tenniscaming, by the 
Ottawa ; Simcoe, by the Severn ; Ni pissing, by the French 
Eiver ; and St. Ann, by the Neepigon.* 

NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF CANADA. 

Canada is rich in minerals. Iron abounds in all its forms — - 
magnetic, specular, and bog-iron ore, and the rare 

Minerals. 

silicate of iron. Immense deposits of copper are 
found near the great lakes ; and, at the Copper Mine Eiver, 
actual rocks of the metal exist in a pure and malleable state. 
Gold has been found in sufficient quantities to induce the 

* Mackay's Manual of Geography. 



NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OP CANADA* 369 

formation of a gold-mining company. Silver, lead, tin, cobalt, 
manganese, and zinc are found in various districts. Coal has 
only recently been worked. 

Salt springs abound on the nortli and west shores of Ontario. 
The rocks yield limestone, millstones, grinding-stones, paving- 
stones, marble in all its varieties of white, green, and varie- 
gated ; and at Eama on Lake Simcoe has been found the 
lithographic stone of finest quality and in large supplies — a 
discovery the more valuable, as only one other place in the 
world has yielded it hitherto — Solenhofen on the Danube. 

A peculiar product, the rock-oil, or petroleum, has lately 
been added to the mineral treasures of Canada. • . , 

Petroleum. 

This oil exists in the cavities of limestone rocks, 
which are supposed to have been of marine origin from their 
containing myriads of the remains of marine animals ; and the 
oil is the result of the decomposition of the animal tissue. 
The oil-bearing limestone of Canada West is believed to 
extend over an area of 7,000 square miles ; and a single boring, 
carried to the depth of 200 feet, has been known to yield 2,000 
barrels of oil of 40 gallons each, per day, for several days after 
being first opened. The soil lies at various depths ; but the 
oil is purer and more abundant at the lower depths. In 
some few cases it rises above the level of the ground and 
forms floating wells, and in some instances natural springs of 
it have been found. In November 1862, an Oil- Wells Com- 
'pany was formed. The towns of Toronto, Niagara, and 
Kingston are now lighted by gas derived from this oil, as are 
railway carriages and many private houses. The gas is of 
great brilliancy. Six thousand cubic feet are obtained from a 
barrel of oil. 

In the enormous forests of Canada there is an unusual 
variety of trees, including most of those common to vegeta- 
our island, such as the oak, ash, beech, cedar, poplar, tl0n ' 
and pine ; and chiefly the white pine attains vast dimensions, 
and measures often 100 feet from the ground to its first 
branch. The maple, for its beauty and utility, has been adopted 
for the national emblem of the Canadas. The red elm is 

B B 



370 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

another of the largest trees, and is hollowed out by the 
Indians into canoes, some of which will carry twenty persons ; 
and the hollow trunks often serve also as winter homes for the 
bears and wild cats, who take possession about November, 
and generally keep house there till about April. The wild 
animals are fast disappearing, especially the large 
beasts of the forest ; but still are to be found in 
diminished numbers the elk, bear, wolf, lynx, wild cat, 
racoon, fox, minx, and marten, and squirrels in great abun- 
dance ; the beaver is now rarely seen near the white set- 
tlements, and the persecution it has suffered has changed its 
nature from a gregarious to a solitary animal. Amongst the 
birds are wild swans, turkeys, geese, ducks, eagles, horned 
owls, kites, and most of the species belonging to Europe. 
Snakes abound, but the only venomous reptiles are the puff- 
adder and two kinds of rattlesnakes. 

HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT IN CANADA. 

At the end of the fifteenth century a native of Bristol of 
Venetian descent, John Gabotto or Cabot, undertook an ex- 
ploring expedition with the object of finding a north-west 
passage to the Pacific, and so opening commerce by a short 
route with Cathay, that is, Japan and China. A patent for 
■ the discovery of new lands ' had been granted by Henry VII. 
to Cabot and his sons, and the Bristol merchants helped him 
to fit out a small fleet laden with merchandise. On June 24, 
1497, Cabot first sighted Newfoundland or Labrador — the old 
documents render it uncertain which — and, sailing along the 
North American coast north and south, took possession of the 
country in the name of the king. Cabot does not seem to 
have penetrated far ; but brought home with him ten natives, 
and received the honour of knighthood, besides, as appears 
from an entry in the privy-purse expenses of Henry VII., a 
more substantial reward, — ' To hym that found the new 
Isle, 102.' 

The nominal possession of the new land by the English 



FRENCH SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 371 

king did not prevent the French also taking possession of 
it in 1525 in the name of their sovereign, Francis I., 
under the title of La Nouvelle France. The coun- settlement, 
try had previously been called Canada, from an 
Iroquois word Kanata, meaning a collection of huts ; and, like 
the rest of the American continent, was found thickly peopled 
by a race of red men,' to whom the general term of Indian 
was given by the first discoverers. In 1539, a French navi- 
gator, Jacques Cartier, explored the great river of Canada, 
and named it St. Lawrence, from having first entered it on 
St. Lawrence's Day. But no successful attempt was made at 
colonisation till the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
when Henri Quatre stimulated enterprise by granting exclu- 
sive trading patents to certain naval officers and merchants, 
one of whom was Samuel Champlain, who, in 1608, formed 
the first permanent settlement on the bank of the St. Lawrence 
at an Indian village, called by the natives Kebec, or narrow, 
because at that point the river suddenly contracts its channel, 
and thus laid the foundation of the future capital of Quebec. 

Owing to their injudicious treatment of the natives, kid- 
napping their chiefs, and taking part in their petty warfares, 
the settlers soon became in a difficult position ; to relieve them 
from which, Canada was transferred to a l Company of One 
Hundred Partners,' founded by Cardinal Richelieu, mainly for 
the purpose of converting the heathen and extending the fur 
trade. But the operations of the new company were frus- 
trated at the outset by one David Kirtch, a French Calvinist, 
who, having suffered persecution, fled to England and induced 
the Government to fit out an armament, with which he him- 
self entered Canada, and captured Quebec. The province was, 
however, restored to France at the treaty of St. Germain's in 
1632, and Charles I. gave up to Louis XIII. the right which 
England had always maintained as first discoverers to the por- 
tion of territory included by Canada, Nova Scotia, and Cape 
Breton. In 1663, Louis XIV. abolished Eichelieu's Company 
and converted Canada into a colony of the Crown. 

But the colony enjoyed no tranquillity from the perpetual 



372 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

warfare between the Canadians and the English settlers in 
New York and the neighbouring states ; and these feuds were 
not a little aggravated by the Indians being always ready with 
their tomahawks and scalping-knives to take part with one 
side or the other. Indeed, the contests were chiefly carried on 
through these savage allies, who fought desperately for the re- 
ward of a feast upon the slain, and a white man's scalp as a 
trophy ; and the constant fear in which the Canadians were kept 
by the attacks of the English allies, the Mohawks, explains a 
peculiarity in the position of the French Canadian towns, which 
all lie close together for mutual defence. For many years 
the French had the advantage in this struggle. They had 
the art of making themselves more popular with the Indians ; 
and, by their intermarriage, and, in many cases, adoption of 
their customs, readily gained them as allies, and a large force 
of Indian warriors was always at the command of the Governor 
of Quebec. Moreover, in 1683, M. De Salle explored the 
Mississippi to its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico, and claimed 
for France the whole region watered by its stream, calling it 
Louisiana, after Louis XIV. ; and the occupation of this river, 
together with that of St. Lawrence, gave the French the 
monopoly of the two chief sources of North American wealth 
— the fur trade, and fisheries ; and the British colonists at 
Albany and New England became so alarmed at their increas- 
ing strength, that they agreed to form a coalition for mutual 
defence and for the absolute destruction of the French settle- 
ments at Canada and Nova Scotia. The hostilities that ensued 
ended in no favourable result for the English, who finally 
failed in an advance on Montreal, and, together with their 
Iroquois allies, headed by their favourite chief, Black Cauldron, 
had to give way before the French commander, De Calliere, 
who had taken such pains to ingratiate himself with the 
Indians, even to the extent of joining in their war-dances, 
that they voluntarily flocked to his standard by hundreds. 

This campaign ended by the treaty of Eyswick, in 1697. 
But peace was of short continuance ; and, war having again 
broken out between France and England with regard to the 



WARS IN CANADA. 373 

Stuart succession in Queen Anne's time, the English Govern- 
ment, elated by the successes of Marlborough, organised a 
plan for the conquest of Canada ; more especially as De Vau- 
dreuil, the Governor, had manifested a design to cut off the 
English from the advantages of the fur-trade and to hem them 
in between the highlands of Nova Scotia and the Alleghany 
Mountains, so as to prevent their access to the great lakes and 
rivers ; besides which, the intrigues of the Jesuits were rapidly 
detaching the Indians from their allegiance to England. 

It soon appeared that the English could expect but little aid 
from the natives in this new campaign. When called upon to 
join their old allies, they replied that they were not accustomed 
to make treaties of peace in order to break them directly, as 
the Europeans did ; and one chief expressed his plain opinion 
that ' both nations were drunk.' The desertion of the Iroquois, 
pestilential fever, and other misfortunes again defeated the 
designs of the English, and hostilities were suspended by the 
treaty of Utrecht, 1713, by which England again resigned her 
claim to Canada, and France her claim to Nova Scotia and 
Newfoundland. 

An unusual period of tranquillity followed, during which 
the colonies on both sides made much progress. The English 
steadily accumulated wealth, and their French neighbours 
comforted themselves with the reflection that they did not know 
how to enjoy it ; and led gayer lives themselves with the large 
fortunes they made by the fur-trade. Threatening clouds, 
however, began again to appear above the horizon when the 
attempt of the young Pretender upon the throne of England, 
seconded by Louis XV., re-opened warfare between the two 
nations in 1745; and an overture to settle the boundaries be- 
tween French and English territory in America only led 
the way to those deadly jealousies which hastened the final 
struggle. 

The Canadian Governor, on his own authority, with much 
military pomp, had sunk in the ground, at stated distances, 
leaden plates bearing the royal arms of France, in order to 
mark the limits that he chose to assiorn to England; and, in 



374 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

1752, a French fort, named, after the Governor, Du Quesne, 
Avas actually erected within the Virginian territory, with the 
view of keeping the English within the boundary of the Al- 
leghany Mountains — an insult not the less aggravating because 
an English rival fort, Necessity, built near it and held by a 
Virginian garrison under Lieutenant George Washington, was 
obliged to capitulate to Du Quesne. 

And now, in 1755, arrived the period of the famous Seven 
Seven Years' War, at the end of which England found her- 
Years'War. se ]f the first naval power in the world. This war 
had two distinct theatres — Prussia and the Colonies. In 
Prussia it was a general melee, in which French, Austrian s, 
Saxons, Eussians, and Swedes were held in check by one man, 
Frederick the Great ; in the Colonies it was a close fight be- 
tween English and French. Before the breaking out of this 
final war, the American provinces, which now belong to Queen 
Victoria, were, with a few exceptions, dependent upon France, 
from New Brunswick and Cape Breton on the east to Niagara 
on the west ; but, on the other hand, Nova Scotia, Massachu- 
setts, and other contiguous states belonged to England. Al- 
though a casus belli was scarcely needed, the encroachments 
of the French on the English hunting-grounds were made the 
occasion of an open quarrel, and General Braddock was sent 
from England, in 1755, with 2,000 regular troops to settle the 
question. Ignorant of Indian warfare, the unfortunate general 
led his army into one of the defiles of the Alleghany Moun- 
tains, where, without the possibility of escape, they were ex- 
posed to the deadly fire of the French and their Indian ?diies, 
who lay in ambuscade. Braddock fell, and a small remnant 
only of the army was saved by Colonel Washington, second 
in command. 

The arrival of chosen troops from France under the Marquis 
de Montcalm still further turned the tide of fortune against the 
English for the two following years. But the horror that was 
excited by the massacre of 2,000 English prisoners at the cap- 
ture of the forts of Oswego and William Henry, perpetrated by the 
native allies and the French, roused our statesmen to more vigo- 



BRITISH CAPTURE OF QUEBEC. 375 

rous measures ; and Mr. Pitt, then prime minister, bent all his 
energies towards promoting an effectual plan for the reduction 
of Canada. Accordingly, it was arranged that three divisions 
were to attack Canada at different points ; and the principal 
division under General Wolfe was to be directed against Quebec. 
De Montcalm was ready to receive him, and opposed his 
landing; with an army of 13,000 men, ranged so as n t 

& J < 7 7 o Capture of 

to cover Quebec from the river St. Lawrence to the Quebec, 

1759 

Falls of Montmorenci. Wolfe was forced to retreat ; 
and, his feeble frame being exhausted by anxiety and a violent 
fever, he appears from his despatches home to have lost hope 
of being able to make way against the stronger force of the 
French, and the rocky walls of the citadel. He fortunately, 
however, listened to the bold suggestion of General Townsend 
to gain the heights of Abraham, which commanded the west 
point, where the city was least defended; and his courage and 
address rendered successful a scheme that was fraught with 
the most imminent peril. While feigning to direct all his 
efforts to the Montmorenci entrenchments, on the night of 
September 12, 1759, his troops silently landed at the spot 
now called Wolfe's Cove, and, climbing up the precipitous 
sides of the hill through the brushwood and rocks, suddenly 
ranged themselves in regular order on the summit. Eetreat to 
themselves was impossible ; and such was the consternation of 
Montcalm that he too hastily decided on giving battle at once 
as the only means of saving the town ; and the action took 
place on the Plains of Abraham, by which Canada was gained 
to Britain, but in which two heroic leaders received their 
death-wound. A fatal shot entered the breast of Wolfe ; and, 
as the life-blood ebbed fast, the cry of ' They run ! ' for a mo- 
ment roused him. ' Who run ? ' cried he. ' The French,' was 
the reply. i Then pray,' said he, ' do one of you run to Colo- 
nel Barton, and tell him to march Webb's regiment with all 
speed down to Charles Eiver, to cut off the retreat of the fugi- 
tives. Now, God be praised, I shall die happy.' The brave 
Montcalm fell at the foot of the rocks ; and, on being told that 
his wound was mortal, i So much the better ! ' said he : ' then I 



376 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

shall not see the taking of Quebec.' Quebec surrendered six 
days after the battle ; and, at the end of the following year, the 
French being surrounded at Montreal without hope of 
succour, at length capitulated for the whole colony, which was 
formally ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris, 1763. 

Many years had not elapsed before the arms of those of our 
American countrymen in the United States who had aided us 
War * in the conquest of Canada, were turned against 
Great Britain. An attempt on the part of Mr. Grenville, 
prime minister of England, to impose a tax on the Americans 
in the shape of stamp-duties, chiefly to defray their share of 
the cost of the Canadian war, was the first of those causes of 
difference which involved the two nations in warfare. The 
Americans, being unrepresented in the Parliament of England, 
denied the right of that body to tax them, although they were 
willing to bear their share in the imperial expenses through 
the votes of their own provincial councils ; and this and other 
enactments relating to custom-duties gave such violent dissa- 
tisfaction, that, in spite of the efforts of the Earl of Chatham 
and of Dr. Franklin, colonial deputy, to effect a reconciliation, 
open hostilities commenced near Boston, about the year 1774; 
and the Declaration of Independence, by which the United 
States separated themselves from the mother-country, was 
signed July 4, 1776. 

It reflects high praise upon British rule in Canada, that in 
the Avar that followed between England and America, during 
which many attempts were made by the New Englanders to 
gain over the Canadians, these last remained throughout firm 
in their allegiance to England, although consisting for the 
most part of foreigners who, a few years back, had been at 
deadly enmity. The policy of the first English Governor of 
Canada, General Murray, had wisely been to conciliate the 
French population by retaining for them their own ancient 
system of civil government, called the Coutume de Paris ; but, 
in so mixed a community, the problem through many years 
was to find a general constitution that would be suitable to all. 
At the close of the American war in 1783, many of the 



ENGLISH SETTLEMENT OF CANADA. 377 

royalists had left the United States and settled in Canada 
West, where land was freely granted them by the British 
Government ; while Canada East remained peopled mostly by 
the descendants of the old French settlers : thus the British 
greatly predominated in Canada West, and the French in 
Canada East. The French Canadians, although unflinching 
in their loyalty to England, naturally desired a form of 
government which should especially protect their own inter- 
ests, customs, and religion; and, principally to meet their 
wishes, the two statesmen, Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox, framed a 
constitution in 1790, by which the two provinces had each 
their own separate government, consisting of a Representative 
Assembly, elected by the forty shilling freeholders of the pro- 
vince, together with an Upper House, or Legislative Council, 
appointed by the king ; the executive power of both provinces 
being still vested in the Governor. By this measure the laws 
of England were introduced into West Canada, while those of 
France prevailed, and still prevail, in the lower province, 
except in criminal and commercial cases, which, in both pro- 
vinces, were adjudged according to the English code. 

Violent disputes, however, subsequently arose between the 
Representative Assemblies and the Executive, with regard to the 
nomination by the Crown of the members of the Upper House, 
and also with regard to the right of disposal of the public 
revenues; and these dissensions reached their climax in 1837, 
when serious insurrections and riots took place, which were 
not a little aggravated by bands of ' sympathisers,' as they 
called themselves, from the United States, being always ready 
with arms and money to help the insurgents. 

To reconcile these differences, Lord Durham was sent out 
in 1838, invested with high powers as Governor-General of 
all the Provinces of British North America. His proposed 
remedy was the union of the two provinces under a still more 
liberal constitution : but he met with opposition at home ; and 
died in 1840, without having succeeded in his object. The 
task of conciliation then devolved upon Mr. Poulett Thomp- 
son (afterwards Lord Sydenham), who, in 1839, was appointed 



378 



BRITISH NOETH AMERICA. 



Governor- General, and who bent his efforts towards carrying 
out the scheme of Lord Durham. He also died, worn out by 
his labours, in 1841, but had the satisfaction of seeing his 
Union of wor k so ^ ar accomplished that in that year the two 
the Pro- Canadas were rejoined under one administration, 
and a constitution was granted which conceded to 
them self-government and all its privileges. During the rule 
of his successor, Sir Charles Metcalfe, a knotty point arose 
between the French and British Canadians, as to which pro- 
vince should be the seat of government, whether Kingston in 
Canada West, or Montreal in Canada East. The question was 
ultimately referred to the Crown ; and Ottawa, situated on the 
border of the two provinces, has been chosen as the future 
capital of Canada. 

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF CANADA I WEST CANADA. 

Canada West, or Upper Canada, is divided into forty-three 
counties ; the counties are divided into townships of about ten 
miles square each. The counties are : 



Brant 


Haldimand 


Middlesex 


Eussell 


Bruce 


Halton 


Norfolk 


SlMCOE 


Carleton 


Hastings 


Northumberland 


Stormont 


Dundas 


Huron 


Ontario 


Victoria 


Durham 


Kent 


Oxford 


Waterloo 


Elgin 


Lambton 


Peel 


Welland 


Essex 


Lanark 


Perth 


Wellington 


Erontenac 


Leeds 


Peterborough 


Wentworth 


Glengarry 


Lennox and 


Prescott 


York 


G-renville 


Addington 


Prince Edward 


Algoma District 


Grey 


Lincoln 


Kenfrew 


Klpissing District 



The townships are either actually inhabited, or surveyed and 
ready for settlement. The inhabited parts are principally in 
the flat open country ; but much of the land still lies in its 
primitive forest state, and new districts and townships are 
added as the progress of settlement requires. Most of the land 
already settled or surveyed has either been surrendered by the 
Indians, or purchased of them by the British Government, or 



POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF CANADA. 379 

the Canada Company, incorporated in 1826 ; and, by way of 
payment, Parliament votes to the aborigines to the amount of 
15,000Z. per annum, which is distributed either in annuities, 
or in the shape of presents, such as clothing, chieftains' equip- 
ments, muskets, powder and ball, blankets, brass kettles, 
combs, knives, tobacco, &c. 

In this province land is obtained by the emigrant on easy 
terms, and a custom even prevails with the Government of 
granting allotments of land without purchase, on condition 
that the settler can satisfy the Crown or Land Commissioner 
that he can support himself till the crop is raised ; since, in 
many woody districts, it will take from seven to nine years to 
clear away the timber and prepare the ground properly for 
tillage, during which time only a few scanty ^rops can be 
raised between the roots and decayed trunks. 

Besides its political divisions, West Canada is generally 
regarded in the three great natural sections of Eastern, Central, 
and Western. The Eastern is a rich and cultivated district, 
extending from the Ottawa Eiver to the St. Lawrence, and 
including the Eastern, Johnstown, Ottawa, and Bathurst dis- 
tricts. Much of the land has been granted to the descendants 
of the New England loyalists, some of it to discharged soldiers, 
and some portion belongs to the Canada Company. 

The Central division extends 120 miles along the shore of 
Ontario, comprising the districts once known as Newcastle and 
Home, and stretching as far north as the Ottawa Eiver. Here 
there is ample room for more settlers ; the soil is generally 
good, and the land well watered. 

The Western division is a vast triangular peninsula, enclosed 
within the waters of the Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario, and 
including the Gore, Niagara, London, Western, and other dis- 
tricts. This is the most attractive section, with its ancient 
forests, wide-stretching prairies, rich alluvial soil, and Niagara 
cataract and scenery ; besides which, the climate is delicious, 
and in some parts the country is said to be more English in 
its character than any other in America ; while its London and 
Middlesex and river Thames in the centre, and the familiar 



380 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

names of Chatham, Stratford, Preston, &c, give even to the 
map of it a home-like appearance. The healthy climate, the 
more level and eligible nature of the country for cultivation, 
the easy terms on which land is obtained, and the predomi- 
nance of British in the population, altogether render Canada 
West the more attractive of the two provinces to English 
emigrants. 

EAST CANADA. 

East Canada is divided into the districts of Montreal, St. 
Francis, Three Rivers, Quebec, and Gaspe, which are subdi- 
vided into sixty counties. A large proportion of land in East 
Canada consists of seignories, or property held according to the 
old feudal tenure that prevailed in Europe at the time of the 
first settlement of the province. By this tenure the Crown 
granted certain tracts of lands to nobles, officers, or respectable 
families, in return for the fealty, or homage, of these seignors, 
or proprietors, and the payment of a quint, or fifth, to the royal 
treasury on the sale of land. This land was re-granted at a 
fixed rent to small farmers, who were and still are called cen- 
sitaires, from censive, a feudal estate. The system, since the 
occupation of the English, has been abused so as to press 
hardly upon the tenant, and the Government has made many 
efforts to place the land on the free tenure that prevails in 
West Canada. Nearly 1,000,000 acres of these seignories 
belong to ecclesiastical institutions of the Eomish Church ; 
and the small allotments, with villages built upon them, give 
to those on the banks of the St. Lawrence the appearance of a 
never-ending street ; the peculiarity of these farms being that 
their length inland is often sixty times greater than their 
breadth on the river banks. Lying round the seignories are 
the townships, or free lands; and the whole country on both 
sides of the river is exceedingly beautiful with its variety of 
mountain, dale, forest, and waterfall, together with its cheerful 
aspect of cultivation and busy human life ; and there is 
scarcely a point from which the spire of one or more pretty 
parish churches may not be seen. But although there is a 



POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF CANADA. 381 

prevailing appearance of comfort and prosperity throughout 
East Canada, there is a marked difference in the general state 
of advance and cultivation as compared with West Canada, 
where Anglo-Saxon energy has been chiefly exerted. 

Between the St. Lawrence and the United States frontier lie 
some peculiar settlements called the Eastern Townships, which 
consist almost exclusively of communities of English farmers, 
numbering now about 200,000 persons. Sherbrooke is their 
chief town, and the Grand Trunk Eailway affords them com- 
munication with the other Canadian towns. 

TOWNS OF CANADA. 

So long as the mighty stream and great lakes of the St. 
Lawrence formed the principal means of communication with 
the traffic of the ocean, the chief towns of Canada were 
naturally to be found close upon their shores : thus, Quebec, 
Three Eivers, and Montreal in East Canada, and Kingston, 
Toronto, Hamilton, and Niagara in West Canada, are so many 
port towns linked with one another and with the world 
beyond by the multitude of steamers that ply up and down 
the Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. But, as canals and 
railroads have increased, other towns more inland have begun 
to rise into importance ; such as London in the middle of 
West Canada, and Ottawa the present capital. 

First and most northerly of the chief towns in East Canada 
stands Quebec, on a promontory situated at the confluence of 
the river St. Charles with the St. Lawrence ; and, although no 
longer the capital, it is still from its position the stronghold of 
Canada as well as the great entrepot for the trade of the 
province with Great Britain, the West Indies, &c. Few 
towns are more finely situated than this ' Gibraltar of the 
West.' The battlements of the citadel rise up from the ex- 
treme peak of the promontory of Cape Diamond 350 feet 
above the river, and, together with the town, which stands on 
an elevated plain about 100 feet lower down the cliff, form a 
magnificent amphitheatre, all the more imposing because the 
rock below the town descends almost perpendicularly to the 



382 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

surface of the water. This upper town is encircled with 
strong fortifications, which connect it with the citadel above, 
and contains all the chief public buildings, the Protestant and 
Catholic cathedrals, the Governor's and Parliament house, post- 
office, and various institutions and educational establishments. 
The custom of roofing the buildings with tin plates gives a 
singular glistening effect to the place at a distance. De- 
scending from this upper town 200 feet down a steep and 
winding street, called appropriately Break-neck Stairs, and 
Mountain Street, the lower town is arrived at, built on a 
narrow space between the base of the promontory and the 
river, the rock having been cut away to make room for the 
houses. It is a close ill-ventilated place, on a level with the 
river at high tide ; but, being close to the shipping, all the 
commerce and most of the trade of the place is carried on 
here, and also the ship-building, which is the most important 
branch of industry. In front of the citadel on the Plains of 
Abraham, stands an obelisk in memory of Wolfe and Mont- 
calm, erected by the Earl of Dalhousie, with this inscription : 
' Mortem virtus, communem famam historia, monumentum 
posteritas dedit.' About two-thirds of the population of 
Quebec are French Eoman Catholics, many of the institutions 
are Catholic, and the town has generally the appearance of 
a French rather than an English city. The Protestant diocese 
of Quebec is a narrow strip of land, 600 miles long, on both 
sides of the St. Lawrence. It is presided over by the Lord 
Bishop of Montreal, and an archdeacon resides at Quebec. 

Fifty-two miles above Quebec is Three Eivers, one of the 
oldest towns in Canada, and called so because the mouth of 
the St. Maurice is here divided into three channels as it enters 
the St. Lawrence. Iron ore being abundant in the neigh- 
bourhood, forges and iron works are chiefly carried on, 
together with a large trade in pot and pearl ashes. The 
town is one of the depots for the north-west traders, and is 
much frequented by Indians who come here to dispose of 
their furs. 

Ninety miles farther up the river is Montreal, the largest 



TOWNS OF CANADA. 383 

and handsomest town in Canada, and also the most com- 
mercial from standing at the head of ship navigation in the 
river. It is built on the most southerly point of the island of 
Montreal, and was founded by the French in 1640 on the site 
of the Indian village of Hochelaga, and at the foot of a rock 
from which it derives its name of Mont-royal or Montreal. 
Like Quebec, it consists of an upper and lower town, the 
upper being inhabited by the merchants and richer classes, 
the lower standing on the river side, and built over with 
trading establishments. After the union of the provinces, 
Montreal was the capital. The architecture of the town is 
magnificent, and the chief edifice, the Roman Catholic cathedral, 
capable of holding 10,000 persons, is the finest ecclesiastical 
building in British North America. The streets are wide, the 
houses mostly built of grey stone and roofed with tin plates ; 
it has numerous Catholic establishments, besides Protestant and 
dissenting churches, banks, colleges, &c, and now it is the 
centre of a vast railway system as well as the natural depot 
for the produce of the extensive grain districts which lie on the 
borders of the great lakes. Ship-building, iron-founding, 
distilling, and brewing, with soap, candle, floorcloth, tobacco, 
and hardware factories, are the chief trading occupations. 

In West Canada, 199 miles south-west of Montreal, is 
Kingston, en the Lake Ontario, the strongest British post in 
America next to Halifax and Quebec, and considered to be 
the key of the central St. Lawrence, as Quebec is the key of 
its seaward extremity. For a short time, Kingston was the 
capital of the united provinces. By means of the Rideau 
canal, it is the trade entrepot between the two Canadas. 

Toronto, on the north-west shore of Ontario, 177 miles 
from Kingston, was the capital of Upper Canada before the 
union ; and, after 1849, was, alternately with Quebec, the seat 
of government for a period of four years. The rapidity of its 
growth of late years has been remarkable. Seventy years ago, 
where the town now stands, there was one solitary wigwam in 
the midst of a dense forest. General Simcoe made the first 
beginning of a town in 1794, and called it York : but, as late 



384 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

as 1826, there were no brick houses in the place, the market 
stood in a bog, and the stumps of trees were left unremoved 
in the street. Now the town is the third in Canada, with 
respect to population ; it extends three miles along the shore, 
and a mile inland ; it has its churches, universities, mechanics 7 
institutes, handsome rows of houses, gas-lighted well-paved 
streets, and, in its neighbourhood, villas, farms, and race- 
courses. The commercial importance of the town is chiefly 
owing to its being the emporium for the wheat of Canada, 
exported to Great Britain, United States, and the eastern 
provinces. Toronto stands first among the towns of West 
Canada as to population, which, in 1861, was 50,000. 

Hamilton, founded in 1813, stands at the western extremity 
of Lake Ontario. Its population is 20,000. It has an exten- 
sive trade in machinery, and an increasing commerce owing 
to its superior water and railway communication with other 
towns, and with the richest corn -growing districts. 

London is beautifully situated on the river Thames in the 
most fertile district in the province, and at an equal distance 
from the Lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario* Like Toronto, it is 
an instance of the rapid growth of towns. The land was only 
surveyed in 1826, and now it has all the requisites of an 
important central town. 

Ottawa, formerly Bytown, is the largest town on the river 
Ottawa, and stands at the head of the navigation of that river 
from Montreal. It stands on the Great Trunk Eailroad, and 
communicates with the great lakes by the Eideau canal. The 
land is fertile to the south, and there is abundance of iron in 
the neighbourhood. 

INHABITANTS OF CANADA. 

By the census of 1861, the population of Canada was 
2,506,755. Of these, 1,110,664 belonged to Canada East, 
and 1,396,991 to Canada West. 

In Canada East, 847,320 were French Canadians ; 167,578 
ada British Canadians, that is, descendants of the first 

East. British settlers; 76,490 were British emigrants, of 



INHABITANTS OF CANADA. 385 

whom by far the larger portion were Irish, and the rest, set- 
tlers from other parts of Europe and the United States. 

Thus the French were more than three to one of the whole 
population. The French Canadians, or habitans, as they are 
called, who form the mass of the common people, are in many 
respects a distinct people, and exhibit a curious blending of 
the wild American with the old French stock. A constant 
out-door life has made many in complexion as dark as the 
Indians, and in person generally they are tall and thin, with 
aquiline noses, thin lips, and small bright eyes. The language 
commonly spoken is French, slightly corrupted, and the pre- 
vailing religion is Eoman Catholic. The houses of the peasantry 
resemble much those in Normandy, and are made of wood, of 
one story, with a chimney in the middle, whitewashed, and 
extremely clean ; the sleeping rooms are at each end, and the 
one dwelling-room is divided from the kitchen by a partition. 
Their diet, like that of the French peasant, consists chiefly of 
soup and vegetables, or fish. The dress of the women is like 
that worn in the south of France — dark-coloured jacket, stuff 
petticoat and French head-dress on week days, and the gayest 
colours for Sundays and holidays ; the men's dress is peculiar 
to themselves ; a grey cloth coat, close buttoned to the neck, 
and girt with a scarlet sash, leather moccasins, and the bonnet- 
bleu or light straw hat, and fur cap for winter. Lord Durham, 
in his report, laid before the Queen in 1839, describes them as 
a mild and kindly race, frugal, industrious and cheerful, and 
distinguished for a courtesy and real politeness which pervade 
all classes. Society amongst the upper classes is acknow- 
ledged by all to be unusually agreeable, owing to its easy 
politeness and freedom from conventional restraint. The 
habitans are mostly proprietors of the land they occupy, and 
are thus generally in comfortable circumstances, but they are, 
as a people, wanting in energy, averse to change, illiterate, and 
jealous of English rule. 

In West Canada, the great bulk of the population is British. 
Before 1770, the only white settlers were a few Canada 
Frenchmen in the neighbourhood of Detroit and West - 

c c 



386 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

Kingston ; in 1861, the French formed about the fortieth part 
of the inhabitants, and the British numbered 1,273,905 ; a 
predominance which is rapidly increasing every year by 
emigration. The Irish compose nearly half of the recent 
settlers. In many districts there are settlements of Germans, 
and other European emigrants have settled here in much 
larger proportion than in East Canada. 

The Indians of Canada belong to two tribes — the Mohawks 
and the Chippeways, or Ojibbeways. By some ac- 
counts * they are a well-disposed and even highly 
interesting people, when not brutalised by the ' fire-water 7 
of the Europeans, which has been their curse and ruin ; and 
in any case they are a harmless race, submissive to English 
rule, and leading a quiet life in their own villages in different 
parts of the province. Many of them have been converted to 
Christianity ; but they persist in loving best their own wild 
wigwam life, and resist all attempts to make them improve 
their condition by steady labour. 

In spearing a salmon, or tracking a bear, they excel all 
Europeans whatever, and specimens of the skill of their 
women are familiar to us in the baskets and bark-work, orna- 
mented with flowers in moose-hair. In the towns they mix 
more freely with the whites, begging alms or selling game, 
and acting as guides in all sporting expeditions ; and in every 
steamer, a few of them may be seen lying in some corner on 
the luggage near the engine, with their squaws and children. 
But their numbers are fast diminishing, and at the last census 
only amounted in the whole of Canada to 6,717. 

INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. 

The ample means of water communication with which 
Nature has furnished Canada, have been rendered 
almost perfect by the canal system, which is exten- 
sive in proportion to the needs of a country before the period 
of railways, and ingenious and splendid in proportion to the 

* See Mrs. Jameson's Winter Studies, 



INTERNAL COMMUNICATION IN CANADA. 387 

difficulties to be overcome. There are scarcely any rivers or 
lakes, however distant from one another, that are not con- 
nected by means of some of the canals, which branch in all 
directions ; and when navigation comes naturally to a full 
stop at some great and sudden change of level, vessels are 
made to mount up hill, to an extent unheard of in our flat 
country, by a gigantic series of locks. Thus, in the great 
Welland canal, undertaken by a company in 1825, for the 
purpose of connecting Lake Ontario with Erie by a more 
eligible route than the Falls of Niagara, the formidable ascent 
of 330 feet is managed by 37 wooden locks, 22 feet wide and 
100 feet long, and the canal is conducted 42 miles over the 
range of hills forming the boundary of Lake Erie. The Eideau 
canal, again, which opens a passage from Kingston to Ottawa, 
a distance of 132 miles, is a succession of waters raised by 
dams which unite together a series of lakes. 

But the great drawback to the inland navigation of Canada, 
which no canals can remedy, is the severity of the Biver 
winter, which renders icebound the passage along Nayi g atlon - 
the great lakes and rivers for a considerable part of the year. 
The Ottawa is frozen over for at least four months, beginning 
about October. The St. Lawrence, between Quebec and Mon- 
treal, is generally one mass of ice by Christmas, and although 
seldom frozen over below Quebec towards the sea, the large 
fragments of ice floating about are sufficient to break the 
strongest paddle-wheels to pieces. The Ontario, on which 
usually there are about 100 steamers, is unnavigable early in 
the winter, except for the iceboats, which sometimes ply the 
lake, speeding along at the rate of twenty-three miles an hour. 

But since business is thus in a great measure suspended 
during the winter season, holiday-making takes its turn; and 
the time for country excursions and pleasure-trips in Canada 
is ushered in by the terrific snow-storms of December, which, 
drifting rapidly one after another, transform the country into 
one uniform white plain, from which all animal life and all signs 
of human industry are withdrawn, and by an intense cold, that 
threatens danger to noses, fingers, ears, and every part of the 

c c 2 



388 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

body that can be attacked by the frost. The Canadian then 
doffs his bonnet-bleu, and puts on his fur-cap, fur-gloves, and 
moccasins, or snow-shoes, consisting of a kind of net-work in 
the shape of a boy's kite so large that the foot cannot sink far 
into the snow. Then the carrioles appear on the lakes in all 
their varieties of sleigh, cutter, burline, and traineaux, and 
break the dead stillness of the snow season with their tinkling 
bells. Then gay picnic parties are planned, where each guest 
carries his dish to the house of entertainment, and literally 
flying visits are exchanged between friends whom the sum- 
mer heats have kept asunder. Sleigh- driving goes on in all 
directions for pure enjoyment's sake; an additional zest to the 
pleasure being the risk of being smothered in a snow-storm, or 
suddenly upset into the lake through a hole in the ice, or of 
having to leap the horse over a fissure, or drag him out with 
ropes. 

All these delights come to an end when the thaw begins, 
towards April, but it is not until about the second week in 
May that navigation is completely reopened. Although spring 
fairly commences in the middle of April at Montreal, the snow 
does not entirely vanish so far north as Quebec till three weeks 
after, and at that time a singular crowding of ice often takes 
place in the St. Lawrence, which delays the free passage, and 
seems, as it were, to wind up Nature's long winter performances 
with a grand frost-scene finale. The ice on the contiguous lakes 
and rivers, broken up by the thaw, rushes down the great 
stream in huge masses to the ocean, which are again dashed 
back by the waves, so as to choke up the river from side to 
side with ice-blocks, of sometimes 500 yards in diameter, 
which the tide and land-currents toss upon one another, group- 
ing them into heaps which rear themselves high above the 
surface of the water in the most fantastic shapes, and having 
a power of crushing vessels to pieces, during a storm, almost 
equal to that of the icebergs in the polar seas. Altogether it 
is for five months in the year, and often six, that the ice forms 
an obstacle to the wealth, trade, and postal communication of 
Canada, which only railways can remedy ; and these, although 



KAILWATS IN CANADA. 389 

on a grand scale, are hardly yet advanced sufficiently to con- 
stitute a free outlet. 

The principal line now open is the Grand Trunk Railway, 
856 miles long, beginning 30 miles below Quebec, 
crossing the St. Lawrence at Montreal, by means of the 
stupendous Victoria Tubular Bridge, 7,000 feet in length, thence 
running to Kingston and Toronto, and ending at Port Sarnia, 
at the south of Lake Huron. The next in importance is the 
Great Western, which runs from Toronto to Sandwich opposite 
Detroit, through Hamilton and London, from which a branch 
line connects Hamilton with Niagara. The Northern Railway 
runs 96 miles straight across the peninsula from Toronto to 
Collingwood in Georgian Bay. The Buffalo and Lake Huron 
runs from Fort Erie to Goderich; besides which there is the 
London and Port Stanley ; the Erie and Ontario; the Cobourg 
and Peterborough; the Prescott and Ottawa; the Montreal 
and Champlain ; the Grenville and Carillon ; the St. Lawrence 
and Industry; the Port Hope and Lindsay, with branches; 
the Brockville and Ottawa, to Perth and Almonte; the Stan- 
stead, Shefford, and Chambly, and the Welland; amounting in 
all to 1,876 miles. 

The absence of good common roads in Canada — many of 
them being merely clay roads, with ruts two feet deep — 
makes the extension of railways more important, and nothing 
would tend so directly to clevelope the resources of the land 
by encouraging the immigration of labourers. There is yet 
room in Canada for some mihions of the human race, and as 
soon as a railway is made through the wildernesses and 
unpeopled prairies, they quickly become settled and cultivated. 
Canada might thus be able to raise for itself provisions which 
now have to be obtained from the United States at an immense 
annual cost. 

Every town and almost every village in Canada is now con- 
nected by the telegraph, and the number of miles in Telegraph 
operation is 4,046. The post also extends to the andPost - 
most distant hamlets, and the total number of offices in Canada 
is about 1,720. 



390 BKITISH NORTH AMERICA. 



STAPLE PRODUCTS OF CANADA. 

The chief staple product of Canada is, at present, timber, 
enormous quantities of which are annually exported, both of 
the common kind, such as oak, elm, white and red pines ; and 
also of the less common woods, such as the white ash, valuable 
for making oars; the prickly or black ash, an ornamental wood 
for furniture ; the butter-nut, a useful cabinet wood ; and the 
curled maple and black walnut, the last being the most beau- 
tiful cabinet wood grown in America. Another valuable 
article of export is also obtained from the ashes of the trees 
and plants burnt in clearing the land, and the pot and pearl- 
ash, thus produced, often help the settler to pay the first cost 
of his land. The Canadian ashes contain a larger propor- 
tion of real potash than those of Europe. Maple sugar 
is an important product, especially in West Canada, obtained 
from the maple tree, by tapping the bark in the spring-time ; 
300 lbs. of sugar are procured on the average from 150 trees 
of from ten to fifteen years' growth, and the farmers of the 
eastern townships all make their own maple sugar. 

Grain of all kinds, especially wheat and maize, are becoming 
more and more important as export; although there are still 
vast regions in Canada where the sickle and plough have never 
reached ; the actual area under cultivation is as much as 
10,000,000 acres, or about equal to the arable farms of Eng- 
land. In Canada West, where the soil has principally been 
formed by the decay of forests for thousands of years upon the 
swampy deposits from water, the fertility is so unusual that 
wheat can be raised in some parts without manure for twenty 
years in succession, and 100 bushels have been obtained from 
a single acre ; the highest average known in Europe being 40 
bushels. Dairy and farm produce of all kinds are greatly on 
the increase for export. 

Canada East possesses in the river and gulf of St. Lawrence 
1,000 miles of coast, where fisheries are carried on to a great 
extent. Cod-fishing is carried on along the whole shore; 
mackerel-fishing along the coast of Gaspe and the lower part 



GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. 391 

of the St. Lawrence: and the Government are now fostering 
about seventy salmon fisheries in the province. Whale-fishing 
is carried on by vessels fitted out at the Port of Gaspe. 

GOVERNMENT OF CANADA. 

The existing Constitution of Canada is according to the Act 
of Union formed by Lord Sydenham, and secures to the colony 
all the political, social, and religious freedom of an indepen- 
dent nation. 

The Governor of Canada is appointed by the Crown, and is 
Governor- General of all the British possessions in North 
America. He nominates his own Cabinet or Privy Council, 
which must be composed of members of one of the Canadian 
Houses of Parliament, and must command a majority in Par- 
liament, as in England. 

There are two Legislative bodies — the Legislative Council 
and the House of Assembly, the members of which are elected 
by the people. The Legislative Council is summoned for life 
by the Governor in the name of the Crown, and is composed of 
not fewer than twenty-two members. The House of Assembly 
is convened for a term of four years, and meets once a year. It 
consists of forty-two representatives from each province. The 
elective suffrage is almost universal, the qualification for voting 
being the payment of a household rental of 61. in towns and 41. 
in the country. Aliens or foreigners can enjoy the rights and 
privileges of citizens after a residence of three years, upon 
taking the oath of allegiance. The laws of England prevail in 
Canada West ; the laws of France exist in Canada East ; but 
the laws in both provinces are subject to alteration by the 
local Parliament. 

The municipal system of Canada is considered admirably 
adapted to the requirements of a country that is constantly 
increasing the boundaries of its population. The inhabitants 
of each township annually elect five councillors ; the coun- 
cillors elect out of these a presiding officer, called the town- 
ship reeve; the reeves and deputy reeves of the different 
townships form the County Council ; this council elects their 



392 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

presiding officer, styled the Warden. In each county there is 
a judge, a sheriff, one or more coroners, a clerk of the peace, 
a clerk of the county court, a registrar, and justices of the 
peace, which officers are appointed by the Governor in Council. 
All township reeves, wardens, mayors, and aldermen are, ex 
officio, justices of the peace. The County Councils are 
charged with the construction and repairs of gaols and court- 
houses, roads and bridges, houses of correction and grammar 
schools, under the provisions of the school law; they are 
empowered to grant moneys by loan to public works tending 
to the improvement of the country, and to levy taxes for the 
redemption of debts incurred. 

The British Government maintains a certain number of 
troops in Canada for protection against foreign invasion. The 
militia and volunteer system are in operation. The principal 
military stations are Quebec, Montreal, St. Helena, Kingston, 
Toronto, Niagara, London, Isle aux Noix, and Amherstburg. 

RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 

There is no State Church in Canada. The faith of the 
Church of Rome prevails in Canada East, and that of the 
Church of England in Canada West. 

The Canadian Catholic Church is exceedingly rich in lands 
and revenues, and has many excellent religious communities 
and charitable institutions. It has no temporal support from 
Eome. The Bishop of Quebec receives 1,000/. a year from 
Great Britain, and the clergy have for their maintenance a 
twenty-sixth part of all the grain produced on the lands of the 
Catholics ; besides which the priests of West Canada receive 
an annual allowance from the Government.* 

The establishment of the Church of England in Canada 
dates from 1793, when the whole province was formed into 
one enormous bishopric under the superintendence of Dr. 
Jacob Mountain, and called the Diocese of Quebec. The 
diocese was afterwards changed to that of Montreal, and in 

* Martin's British Colonies, 



RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENTS. 393 

1839 the see was divided, and a Diocese of Toronto consti- 
tuted, comprising the province of West Canada. Further 
divisions have been made more recently, and at present the 
Church consists of: in Canada East, two dioceses, viz., 
Quebec, containing the districts of Gaspe, Quebec, the Three 
Rivers, and St. Francis — bishops' income by Government 
vote, 1,990/. ; number of clergy, 50 : and Montreal, founded 
1850 — income from Colonial Bishoprics' Fund, 800/. ; clergy, 
65. In Canada West, three dioceses, viz., Toronto, income from 
clergy revenues in West Canada, 1,250/. ; clergy, 137 : 
Ontario, founded 1861, including Ottawa district : Huron, 
including London district; clergy, 55. Some of the clergy 
are supported by the voluntary contributions of their 
parishioners, and some by the funds of the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The Church of 
Scotland and the Presbyterians also receive support from the 
public funds. 

With regard to other Christian denominations, West Canada 
exhibits an unusual variety, and about a twentieth of the 
population are of no denomination whatever. 

Both Catholics and Protestants have several missionary 
establishments. 

Canada is liberally supplied with educational establish- 
ments. West Canada has four universities, and the number of 
its schools of all classes amounted in 1855 to 3,710. Edu- 
cation is less advanced in Canada East, but the upper class 
schoo]s are of a superior order. 

The chief towns have their public libraries, mechanics' 
institutions, lyceums, scientific clubs, &c, and there is not a 
town or even village in West Canada without its own news- 
paper. 



394 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE LOWER PROVINCES : NEWFOUNDLAND : BERMUDAS. 

The Lower Provinces of British North America comprise 
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the mainland, and the 
islands of Prince Edward and Cape Breton in the gulf of 
St. Lawrence. Of these regions, which were probably first 
visited by John and Sebastian Cabot during their voyage of 
discovery in 1497, Nova Scotia appears to have been the 
first that was colonised, and also claims primary notice on 
the ground of its capital of Halifax being the principal city 
belonging to the group. 

NOVA SCOTIA. 

Nova Scotia is a large peninsula of about 300 miles in 
Natural length, and about the area of Scotland, attached to 
Features, the continent of America by an isthmus eight miles 
wide. Although the latitude, 43° 25' and 46° N. corres- 
ponds with that of the south of France, the winter is far 
more severe than even in Great Britain, and showers and 
fogs are more prevalent ; but the climate altogether is milder 
than in the same latitude farther west on the American con- 
tinent. Fossil remains of the palm-tree, bamboo, and cactus, 
dug from the rocks and coal seams, indicate that the climate 
was at one time tropical. The surface is gently undulated, 
and none of the hills rise to more than 600 feet. The scenery 
here and there is beautiful, with wooded groves and rich 
meadows, and the country is so well watered by numberless 
small lakes and rivers, that there is no point in the province 
30 miles beyond navigable water. 

Nova Scotia ranks high as a grazing and as a coal-pro- 
ducing country. The geological structure is granite, slate 
and greywacke, trap and old red sandstone; and the soil 



NOYA SCOTIA. 395 

formed from the decomposition of these rocks makes three 
descriptions of land, known in the province as upland, intervale, 
and marsh. The uplands are sandy silicious districts, and 
barren, except where the stones have been removed ; the 
intervales are narrow strips of light alluvial soil, skirting the 
streams, and are of tolerable fertility ; but the most prolific 
soil is in the dyked marshes which have been formed along all 
the rivers that flow into the Basin of Mines and the Bay of 
Fundy, and which, lying below the tide, have been covered 
with successive deposits of rich mud. 

The extensive disintegration of the rocks from alluvial and 
atmospheric causes, may account for the many harbours sup- 
plied by the indented shores, which are unusually deep, and 
lie closer together than in any other country ; and also for the 
numerous caverns and grottoes on the coast. Some cf these 
caves in the old red sandstone, called ' ovens,' into which the 
sea rushes and bursts out again with a roar like the spouting 
of a great whale, are passed upon visitors as the • nests of the 
sea-serpents.' 

Coal is found in large deposits at Pictou. The main seam 
of the Albion mines worked there is 35 feet thick, and the 
field extends over an area of about 100 square miles. The 
coal is of good quality, and the relative extent of the deposit 
greater than in any other British colony. Iron and copper 
and other metals exist in the colony, but have not yet been 
largely worked ; also the rocks supply marble, alabaster, 
porphyry, and precious stones. But the discovery of gold 
near Tangier Harbour in 1861, has eclipsed the other mineral 
treasures, and has given a new impetus to the settlement. The 
gold is found in quartz-veins, principally along the southern 
coast, and in some of the mines there is a great singularity in 
the form of the auriferous quartz, the strata of which lie side 
by side like a series of small casks, and are called by the 
miners ' barrel quartz.' 

The Indians found inhabiting this region belonged chiefly 
to two tribes, the Mic-macs and the Eichibuctoos, differing 



396 BEITISH NOETH AMERICA. 

from one another in dialect, but both of the usual North 
American type. 

Nova Scotia was one of the regions claimed from the first 
Settlement ^y England on tne ground of its discovery by the 
by the Cabots ; but the English made at first but little use 

of their claim, and Henry IV. of France, regardless 
of it, sent out his own explorers, and granted patents for the 
exclusive trade and government of all the territories between 
40° and 50° north latitude, to which he gave the general 
name of La Nouvelle France ; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, 
and part of Maine being designated as Acadia. By way of 
making immediate use of his new possessions, the king com- 
missioned the Marquis de la Roche in 1598 to take out with 
him forty French convicts and find a place for them some- 
where in the New World. And accordingly, the marquis 
turned them ashore at the first island he came to, namely, 
Sable Island, a barren heap of sand, 85 miles south-east of 
Nova Scotia, while he pursued his explorations. But he was 
obliged by adverse winds to return to France withoift re- 
visiting Sable Island, and as the island produced nothing but 
briars, the convicts had no chance for their lives but by 
hunting the seals and catching the fish, and once were for- 
tunate in being supplied with provisions from a wreck. 
Seven years afterwards, Henri Quatre gave orders for their 
return, and only twelve were found alive. 

In the same reign, a Frenchman, named De Monti, who 
had obtained from the king the monopoly of the fur-trade in 
these districts, founded the first colony of Port Royal, on the 
west coast. But in 1614, all the French settlements were 
seized and destroyed by the Governor of Virginia, who claimed 
the provinces for England on the old ground of first discovery, 
and eight years afterwards James I. granted this province to 
a Scotch nobleman, Sir William Alexander, under the name 
of New Scotland, or Nova Scotia. On sending out emigrants 
to take possession, resistance was encountered from the re- 
sident French settlers, and Charles I., although he had con- 
firmed his father's grant, surrendered the place to Louis XIII. 



KOYA SCOTIA. 397 

Betaken under Oliver Cromwell, and again ceded to France, 
Port Royal was besieged and captured by General Nicholson 
in Queen Anne's time, and henceforth was called Annapolis. 
At the Peace of Utrecht, 1713, all Nova Scotia was confirmed 
to England, and General Nicholson became the first governor. 

The English, however, found possession difficult, in con- 
sequence of the reluctance of the French settlers English 
either to become British subjects or to leave the 1748. 
place, and also in consequence of the attachment of the 
Indians to their old French leaders, and the colony suffered 
much from desultory internal warfare, and from various 
attempts of the French to regain possession after war had 
recommenced in 1744. But the place was of obvious im- 
portance to England ; and in order to strengthen it, the Earl 
of Halifax, then President of the Board of Trade and Planta- 
tions, adopted the plan of settling there the troops disbanded 
after the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, by granting land 
both to officers and privates. Other settlers were also en- 
couraged to emigrate at the government expense. For greater 
security in case of French invasion, the province was cleared 
of the Acadians, or old French settlers, by a summary act of 
treachery : the English authorities assembling the Acadians 
in their respective settlements under pretext of consulting 
with them on some question important to their interests, and 
then shipping them off by force to the United States. 

In 1762, at the Treaty of Paris, France resigned all claim to 
Nova Scotia and her other possessions in this part of America, 
and the Indians at length were brought to pledge themselves 
to • bury the hatchet,' and accept George III. as their ( Great 
Father.' Little reason had they, however, to rejoice in the 
paternal relation, since what with the wars between the rival 
nations, and the introduction amongst them of the small-pox 
and habits of intemperance, nearly the whole race has been 
destroyed, and only a few Mic-macs are now to be found. 

The population of this colony, including Cape Breton, was, 
in 1861, 330,857. The Nova Scotians are mostly p resen t 
descendants of English, Irish, and Scotch immigrants, Condition. 



398 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

and of Royalists from New England. There are also a few 
settlements of French Acadians, Germans, and Swiss Protes- 
tants. Besides which, there is a dark-coloured race consisting 
of the descendants of runaway negroes, and of the Maroons 
from Jamaica. English is the prevailing language. The 
majority of the people are fishers and farmers, and many of 
those who live on the coast combine the two trades. The 
farmers of the midland counties often use their timber for 
ship-building, and make and man the ships themselves, and 
freight them with the produce of their lands. Since the 
colony has been settled under British rule, much progress has 
been made in farming, ship-building, and coal-mining, and 
now gold-digging has become an important occupation of the 
settlement. But manufactures are still very limited, and are 
chiefly of coarse cloths and flannels, paper, leather, straw hats 
and bonnets of bleached grass, agricultural implements, ropes, 
stoves, &c. ; British manufactures being largely imported. 
The settlement relies very much on its fisheries, and Nova 
Scotia is still a fur-producing country. The chief exports of 
the province are timber of all sorts, salted fish, seal-skins, oil, 
coal, gypsum, grindstones, live stock, and meat. 

For electoral purposes the colony was divided into fourteen 
counties, viz., Halifax, Colchester, Pictou, Hants, 
King's, Annapolis, Yarmouth, Shelburne, Queen's, 
Lunenburg, Guysborough, Digby, Sydney, Cumberland. The 
Scotch chiefly inhabit Pictou and the east districts ; the Irish 
Halifax ; and the American Royalists the west and midland 
counties. The counties are again divided into townships, 
among which the township of Clare in Annapolis is interest- 
ing as being the residence of the ill-treated Acadians, who 
were suffered to return from exile under Governor Franklin, 
and who, by their persevering industry, have converted a 
wilderness into a prosperous settlement. 

The chief towns in Nova Scotia are Halifax, Lunenburg, 
and Liverpool, on the south-west coast ; Yarmouth 

Towns 

and Annapolis on the Bay of Fundy ; Windsor on 
Minas Bay ; and Pictou and New Glasgow on the north coast. 



NOYA SCOTIA. 399 

Halifax stands upon the same parallel of latitude as Venice. 
It is the nearest port to England on the American continent, 
and the principal station of the British army and navy in North 
America. The town is built chiefly of wood upon a narrow 
arm of the sea, which leads up to a capacious bay, called 
Bedford Basin, and which forms a splendid harbour of ten 
square miles in area, completely land-locked, although easily 
accessible, and capable of accommodating the whole British 
navy. The city rises from the shore on the slope of a hill, 
and is about two miles long and a mile broad. In the 
centre stands the Province Building, or Government Chambers, 
considered one of the handsomest structures in our North 
American colonies. The Military Hospital and other public 
buildings owed their foundation to the late Duke of Kent, 
when Commander-in-Chief of Nova Scotia in 1799 ; and it 
was His Eoyal Highness who first urged the formation of a 
road between Halifax and Quebec. 

According to the recommendation of Mr. Poulett Thomson, 
Govern- Governor- General of Canada in 1840, a liberal Con- 
ment, &c. stitution was granted to Nova Scotia, and the Govern- 
ment now consists of a Lieutenant-Governor, chosen by the 
Crown (salary, 3,000Z.), a Legislative Council of twenty-one 
members, and a House of Assembly of fifty-five members, who 
are elected for a term of four years from the counties and towns. 
Every natural- born or naturalised male person above the age of 
twenty-one, who has resided above a year in a county or town, 
is entitled to vote. 

Nova Scotia was made a bishop's see in 1787. The diocese 
includes Prince Edward's Island and Cape Breton. Income 
from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, 700Z. 
Clergy, 78. Although the Church of England is the recog- 
nised religion, the Dissenters largely predominate, and espe- 
cially Soman Catholics are numerous, in consequence of the 
many Irish and French in the province. 

Education is provided by a Board of Commissioners in each 
county. There are 1,000 common schools, 5 colleges, and 
52 grammar schools. 



400 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

Kailways have not made much progress in Nova Scotia. In 
1862 there were only 92 miles completed. It is in contem- 
plation to connect the Nova Scotia line with that of New 
Brunswick, and thence with the Grand Trunk line at the 
mouth of the St. Lawrence. 



CAPE BRETON. 

The island of Cape Breton is scarcely detached from the 
north-east of Nova Scotia by a narrow strait, called the Gut 
of Canso. In length Cape Breton is about 300 miles, but of 
its breadth it is difficult to speak, since it is almost divided 
into two islands by a large inland sea, the Bras d'Or, the 
waters of which branch into all parts of the island, and 
which appears to have been formed by some earthquake or 
other convulsion, which tore asunder the land, and admitted 
the sea beyond its former limits. The portions thus divided 
are very different in character, that on the north being 
bold and rocky, and that on the south low and only slightly 
hilly. 

The shoals of cod and scale-fish around its coast first 
attracted to the uninhabited island a few French fishermen 
from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in 1714, who settled 
themselves on such parts of the coast where they could best 
dry their cod-fish, and make small gardens. Soon, however, 
the French Government found out the value of the place ; for 
besides its fisheries and fine harbours, its position with rela- 
tion to the St. Lawrence would command a free passage to 
the French Canadian settlements; it was therefore rapidly 
colonised, the town of Louisburg was founded and named 
after Louis XIV., and immense sums were spent upon 
fortifications, which were well repaid by the profit from 
the fisheries. But since Cape Breton remained a French pos- 
session after Nova Scotia had surrendered to the English in 
1710, perpetual warfare was carried on by the rival colonies, 
until, in 1758, the island was finally captured by a British 
fleet. In 1820, Cape Breton was united to the government of 



SABLE ISLAND-— MAGDALEN, BRION, AND BIRD ISLES. 401 

Nova Scotia, and sends six members to its House of Kepre- 
sentatives. 

The original French Acadians, who are mostly employed in 
the fisheries, and who much resemble as a people the Canadian 
habitans, still form a large part of the population ; but the 
majority are emigrants from the Scotch Highlands, and the 
rest English and Irish settlers, New England loyalists, dis- 
banded soldiers, and about 300 Mic-macs. 

The English capital of Sydney is well situated at the end of 
a fine bay on the north-east, and in the neighbourhood of coal- 
mines; but although founded after the conclusion of the 
American war, it has made little progress as a town, and 
contains only about eighty houses ; and Cape Breton generally, 
although its capabilities are beginning now to be recognised, 
has not advanced equally with England's other colonies. Its 
chief products are fish, coal, gypsum, and timber ; and now 
railroads are beginning to appear from the coal-pits to the 
wharves, and saw-mills are springing up in the neighbourhood 
of the forest. The gypsum, or sulphate of lime, which the 
new red sandstone rocks plentifully supply, is becoming an 
important article of commerce, both in its form of lime for 
agricultural purposes, and as alabaster and selenite; and a 
valuable adjunct to the magnificent fisheries has been found in 
numerous salt-springs, which also have their source in the new 
red sandstone. No less than 90,000 acres of the primeval 
forest, which almost covered the land, have been cleared for 
cultivation. 



SABLE ISLAND, MAGDALEN ISLES, BRI0N AND BIRD ISLES. 

These small islands are appendages of Nova Scotia. Sable 
Island, where the French convicts were left to perish, is a thin 
strip of sand, about eighty miles long, where a small settle- 
ment, consisting of a Superintendent and some assistants, is 
maintained by the British Government, solely for the sake of 
supplying aid to the many vessels that are wrecked on the 
coast. A more dreary place of residence cannot be imagined, 

DD 



402 BRITISH NOKTH AMERICA. 

Sea-storms dash the waves with terrific violence against this 
naked sand-ridge, exposing at every gale the fragments of 
wrecks and human skeletons that have lain buried, and are so 
rapidly washing away the land that the spot where the first 
Superintendent settled himself is now three miles in the ocean. 
Not a tree or shrub grows on the island, but only a coarse 
kind of grass, and some cranberry and whortleberry bushes. 
Nevertheless, animals have been introduced, which thrive 
well ; English rabbits, for instance, have burrowed innumer- 
able homes for themselves in the sandy soil, and are only kept 
from over-swarming the island by an equally numerous tribe 
of settlers — the progeny of the rats which had escaped from 
the wrecks. Herds of wild cattle also once found pasture 
here, but they have all been hirnted and exterminated, and 
now there is a race of wild horses of unknown origin, of a 
small and hardy breed, which multiply fast, and are often 
killed for food. 

In the centre of the island is a pond eighteen miles long, 
called Lake Wallace, and on its north side stands the house of 
the Superintendent, with two small kitchen gardens, in which 
it has been found possible to grow cabbages, and a small farm 
containing horses, cows, pigs, and poultry. On a hill adjoining 
is a fiag- staff, made out of the sail-yard of a French frigate, 
wrecked here in 1822, from which signals are made to dis- 
tressed vessels, and on each end of the lake is a hut, kept 
furnished with provisions and necessaries for the shipwrecked. 
Hunting the seals on the shore seems the chief diversion nature 
has provided for these isolated settlers, and is a sport which 
from early days attracted the New England fishermen to the 
coast. 

The Magdalen Isles lie about fifty miles north-west of Cape 
Breton, and rejoice in the pleasant names of Coffin Isle, Dead- 
man's Isle, Old Harry, &c. They are peopled chiefly by 
fishermen descended from the French Acadians. 

North of this group are the Brion and Bird Isles, where 
stands the great ' Gannet Eock,' the resort of such myriads 
of gannets that their white bodies give the summit the 



NEW BRUNSWICK. 403 

appearance of being snow-clad, and their flight is described by 
Audubon as forming a magnificent floating veil of light grey, 
which causes a strange dimness in the air of those regions. 

NEW BRUNSWICK. 

New Brunswick is a quadrangular territory, on the east 
coast of North. America, of 210 miles long, and 180 miles 
broad, and of about the same area as Denmark. The limits 
of the settlement were determined at the Ashburton Treaty 
between England and the United States in 1842. East Canada 
and Chaleurs Bay bound it on the north, Nova Scotia and the 
Bay of Fundy on the south, the Gulf of St. Lawrence on the 
east, and the United States on the west. 

The greater part of its surface is still an uncultivated and 
beautiful wilderness, of dense forest and prairie, well Natural 
watered by lake and river, and with much diversity Features « 
of hill and dale. The climate, like that of Canada, is subject 
to extremes of heat and cold ; the aurora borealis is brilliant 
at all times of the year, earthquakes are occasionally felt, and 
the exceeding dryness of the air during the heat of summer 
occasions the widespread forest fires, which are a peculiarity 
of this region as well as of Nova Scotia. Pine is the prevailing 
forest tree, and, owing to its resinous nature, an accidental fire 
among the fallen leaves or dry underwood easily sets the tree in 
a blaze, and the fury and rapidity with which the flames spread 
over miles of forest are such that often the whole country is 
encircled with a fiery zone, which only contracts its circle as 
less and less remains to be destroyed. 

The land appears formerly to have been peopled by several 
different Indian tribes, but of these only two remain, 
the Mic-macs and Melicetes. Included during the 
early days of European colonization in the great French pro- 
vince of Acadia, very little was effected towards its settle- 
ment so long as it remained a French possession. A few 
military posts were formed, and a number of French emigrants 
planted themselves in different spots, hunting and fishing, and 

dd 2 



404 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

attempting an export trade ; but famine, pestilence, and British 
cruisers rendered their efforts vain, and little sign of their 
existence is left on the soil, except a few traces of cultivation 
here and there, and their bones, which have been found pro- 
truding from graves that have been washed open on the river 
banks. 

After the conquest of Canada, New Brunswick was ceded to 
England by the Treaty of Paris (1763), and then colonisation 
began in good earnest. The first British settler was a Scotch- 
man,named Davidson, who, in 1764, obtained a grant of 100,000 
acres on the banks of the Miramichi, and who, managing to 
live on friendly terms with the Indians, soon made a valuable 
traffic of the salmon fishery. But, during the subsequent years 
of the American Eevolution, the British settlers were in great 
jeopardy, in consequence of the savages taking part with the 
Americans, and more than once barely escaped a wholesale 
massacre. Gradually, however, the colony became strengthened 
by the arrival of 5,000 American loyalists, and after the con- 
clusion of the war in 1783, by thousands of the disbanded 
British troops; and when, in 1784, New Brunswick was sepa- 
rated from the government of Nova Scotia, and became an 
independent colony under the administration of a judicious 
governor (General Carleton) it rapidly improved in civilisation 
and increased its population. 

The population of New Brunswick is about 200,000, but 
present the province could contain ten times its present 
Condition, number The inhabitants have naturally congre- 
gated chiefly on the banks of the two great rivers of the pro- 
vince, the St. John and the Miramichi. An almost unbroken 
line of white settlements extends along the valley of the St. 
John, and the land is extensively cleared in the vale of the 
Miramichi. Several tracts of land have been reserved by the 
-Government for the use of the Mic-macs and Melicetes, and 
their encampments mingle strangely with the English settle- 
ments. They maintain that they are the rightful owners of the 
land, water, and sky, and that the 'Great Spirit' has only 
permitted the 'pale faces' to come into the country to kill the 



NEW brtjnswick:. 405 

game, catch fish, and cut down trees; and they still hold their 
yearly grand councils, in which they pass laws for the regu- 
lation of their own hunting and fishing. 

The majestic pine forests of New Brunswick offer tmlimited 
extension to the timber, or, as it is here called, the lumber trade ; 
and this lumbering trade, or preparation of timber, has so 
engrossed the population that, until lately, little attention has 
been paid to the cultivation of the land. The same as in Nova 
Scotia, the most valuable soils for agriculture are the dyked 
marsh-lands at the mouths of rivers ; and here the English 
cereals, maize, and potatoes, grow well, and recently agricul- 
tural associations have been formed, encouraged by Govern- 
ment grants, by means of which improved methods have been 
introduced, and efforts made to raise in the province itself the 
needful supplies of grain, which have hitherto been imported 
from the United States. Timber and fish are the staple pro- 
ducts, but it has considerable coal-fields, and quarries and 
mines of iron, gypsum, copper, and limestone. 

New Brunswick contains thirteen counties, viz. Gloucester, 
Northumberland, Kent, Westmoreland, St. John, counties 
Charlotte, King's, Queen's, Sunbury, York, Carlton, ^ dTow ^ s - 
Eistigonche, and Albert. The capital of the province is Fre- 
dericton, on the banks of the St. John, built on both sides of 
the stream, and containing the Government House, a cathedral, 
colleges, and barracks. But a more important town is the com- 
mercial capital St. John, near the mouth of the river, built 
on a rocky peninsula overlooking the harbour of St. John, and 
defended by forts. St. John is the emporium for the timber, fish, 
fur, and lime trades; all the other towns are engrossed in the 
lumber trade. St. John owes its foundation to the American 
loyalists, who raised it amidst the cedar thickets, and with 
patient labour levelled into streets the rocky surface. It is an 
incorporated town, and has excellent houses and public 
buildings ; but the houses being mostly of wood, the town has 
suffered extremely from fires. 

The destruction by fire of Douglastown and Newcastle, and 
other small towns on the banks of the Miramichi, in 1826, 



406 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

was one of the most awful catastrophes of the kind on record. 
The summer had been unusually hot, and the forest fires 
had raged with great violence, when, on the 7th of October, 
a tremendous hurricane convulsed the air, and c suddenly a 
lengthened and sullen roar came booming through the forest, 
driving a thousand massive and devouring flames before it. 
Then a distance of more than one hundred miles in length 
became enveloped* in an immense sheet of flame, that spread 
over nearly six thousand square miles.' Five hundred persons 
perished ; the wood-built settlements, with all their houses, 
stores, barns, were reduced to ashes ; thousands of wild beasts 
perished in the forests, and even the fish in the river were 
scorched or poisoned by the fumes of the alkali of the burning 
ashes. The towns have since been rebuilt. 

The government consists of a Lieutenant-Governor (salary, 
3,000/.), a Legislative Council of twenty-one members, and a 
House of Assembly of forty-one members, elected by the male 
inhabitants who possess real estate to the amount of 25L, or 
annual income from property to the amount of 100Z. a year. 
Frederic ton was created a bishopric in 1845 ; the income 
(1,000/.) is supplied from the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund. 
Number of clergy, 55. Eoman Catholics and Dissenters 
form a large proportion of the community. In 1861 there 
were 500 places of worship open. 

Education is provided for under the Common School system, 
and in 1858 there were 762 schools for the people, besides 
several schools of a superior class. King's College at Freder- 
icton is the University for the province. It was founded in 
1828, and is now under the patronage of Queen Victoria. 

A line of railway, 114 miles long, is now open, connecting 
St. John with the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Shediac. Another 
line is open for 95 miles to Woodstock, which it is intended 
to connect with the Grand Trunk Line of Canada. 

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 

Prince Edward Island is an irregular crescent - shaped 
island lying parallel to the concave shores of New Brunswick 



PRINCE EDWAKD ISLAND. 407 

and Nova Scotia, from which it is separated by Northumber- 
land Strait. It is about the size of Norfolk, and Natural 
extends about 135 miles east and west; and is so Features. 
intersected with bays and creeks, formed by the strong action 
of the tides in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, that there is no part 
of the island more than eight miles from the sea at high 
water. The surface is undulated throughout. Forests of large 
trees, especially pine, poplar, and beech, once completely 
covered the island, and although forest-fires and lumber-men 
have done so much to clear the ground that there is now no 
more timber than is needed for ship and house building and 
other necessary purposes, the land is still finely wooded with 
the rapid fresh growth of trees in the fertile soil. 

The climate is more equable than in the adjoining countries ; 
the air is dry and clear, the aurora borealis splendid in the 
autumn, and in the summer months the fire-flies produce 
what may be called an atmospheric effect, flashing through 
the air over whole acres near the sea, and mingling beauti- 
fully with the reflection of the stars in the water. Owing to 
the favourable climate and fertile soil, it is essentially an 
agricultural country, and almost the whole surface is capable 
of cultivation. 

Although discovered by the Cabots, the island was first 
claimed by the French under the name of St. John, _ 

J . . 1 French 

and was included m their vast territory of New Settlement, 
France. A small fishing settlement was first made 
upon it in 1663 by a French naval captain, named Doublet, 
who held this and the Magdalen Isles as a sort of feudal tenure, 
and it became afterwards the residence of many French families 
from Acadia. During the war between England and France 
in the middle of the last century, large numbers of Mic-macs 
and exiled Acadians congregated here, and directed hostilities 
against the English colonists of Nova Scotia, and agreed so 
well together in their mode of warfare that the scalps of 
Englishmen were found hung up as trophies in the French 
Governor's house. At the peace of 1763, the island finally 
passed into the possession of England with the rest of these 



408 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

regions, and the hostile Acadians were shipped off either to 
France or the American continent. 

The plan adopted at first by the English for the settlement 
English °f tne l an d was singular. All regular survey and 
Settlement, settlement of it had been interrupted by the 
American war ; but at the conclusion of the Seven Years' War, 
in 1763, the island was made a means of paying the officers 
of the army and navy who, from their services, had claims 
upon the Government ; and accordingly the land was por- 
tioned out into townships, grants for which were drawn by 
ticket-holders in lottery fashion, and these tickets were distri- 
buted among the officers on condition that they should colonise 
their land within ten years, at the minimum rate of one settler 
to 200 acres. But few of the winners of the grants showed any 
intention of settling their land, and only re-sold their grants ; 
and consequently, when the first Governor, Mr. Paterson,: 
arrived in 1770, after the island had been separated from the 
Government of Nova Scotia and made an independent colony, 
only five proprietors and 150 families were found in the place. 

The first real steps in settlement are attributed to the influ- 
ence and exertions of the late Duke of Kent, who was for ten 
years Commander-in-Chief of the North American Colonies. 
He preserved the island from attack by the erection of bat- 
teries and the regular organisation of troops ; and, in grateful 
commemoration of his services, the name of the island was 
in 1800 changed from St. John to Prince Edward; the 
more especially as there were so many St. Johns in the neigh- 
bouring countries, that the name led to confusion. In 1803, 
800 Highlanders were taken over by the Earl of Selkirk, and 
the descendants of these and other Scotchmen form now more 
than half the population. The rest are chiefly descendants 
from the old French peasantry, with some Americans from the 
United States. The population numbers about 100,000. 

litical The island is naturally divided by its deeply- 

DMsions, indented bays into three portions, and these portions 

have been constituted into three counties, viz. King's 

County, Queen's County,, and Prince's County,, which are 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 409 

again divided into parishes. The capital, Charlotte Town, 
is in Queen's County, at the confluence of the three rivers, 
Hillsborough, York, and Elliott. 

The colony has its own Lieutenant-Governor, Council, and 
Representative Assembly. It belongs to the Protestant diocese 
of Nova Scotia ; but the members of the Church of Eome pre- 
dominate. The colonial Government spends about 1,000Z. a 
year in the support of district schools ; besides which there is 
a central academy at Charlotte Town, a national school, and 
several infant schools belonging to the Church of England. 

The home manufactures being very limited at present, the 
colony imports largely from Great Britain, and exports chiefly 
timber and fish. No minerals have yet been discovered, and 
at the present time a large proportion of the inhabitants are 
practical farmers, who supply provisions to ships' crews. 

NEWFOUNDLAND. 

Resting upon a huge sandbank of 600 miles long — the 
most extensive submarine elevation known to exist in any 
ocean — is the island of Newfoundland, which stretches like a 
triangular barrier across the entrance to the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence, and appears only just prevented from hanging on to the 
mainland of Labrador by the Strait of Belle Isle, only twelve 
miles across. Newfoundland is in size about equal to England 
and Wales, and measures 419 miles in length and 300 miles 
in breadth. It is the nearest land to Europe of any part of 
America ; the distance from Valentia, the most westerly port 
of Ireland, is 1,656 miles from St. John, the most easterly 
port of Newfoundland. 

There is a tradition that an Irish sea-king or pirate, Biorn, 
was the first European visitant to Newfoundland, and was 
driven there across the ocean by contrary winds in the year 
1000 a.d. Some say that the island was first settled by 
Norwegians ; and certain remains of ancient buildings and old 
European coins, apparently Flemish, have furnished problems 
for antiquarians. Cabot made acquaintance with these shores 



410 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

during his first voyage in 1497, and called the island, together 
with other lands in this region, New-found-land, and Britain 
laid claim to it from the first, on the ground of his discovery ; 
although its marvellously productive fisheries attracted many 
rivals from other nations to the coast. 

The first attempts at colonisation were disastrous. First, in 
Firgt Henry VIII. 's reign, ' Master Robert How, a Lon- 
Settiers. j on merchant, with divers other gentlemen,' tried 
to winter there, but only escaped starvation by plundering a 
French ship of its provisions ; for which freedom King Henry 
afterwards duly paid compensation. Next, the brave Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert, half-brother of Sir Walter Ealeigh, perished in 
an expedition to Newfoundland ; but not before he had esta- 
blished there the supremacy of his royal mistress, Queen 
Elizabeth, who had granted him a patent for i the discovering 
and peopling such remote, heathen, and barbarous countries 
as were not possessed by any Christian people/ and who as 
a mark of her confidence had presented him with an em- 
blematic jewel, which he always afterwards wore at his breast 
— a small golden anchor with a pearl on the peak. So 
devoted was Sir Humphrey Gilbert to his object, that he sold 
his own estates in England, as well as granted beforehand the 
lands he was to occupy in America, in order to fit out his 
fleet of five ships, manned by 250 men. On July 11, 
1583, he arrived at Newfoundland, and anchored in St. John's 
Bay ; and, although there were then in the harbour no less 
than thirty- six ships belonging to other nations, he pitched a 
tent, and with due formality read aloud the Queen's com- 
mission, — repeating it in several languages for the benefit of 
those foreign ships' crews ; and, having been presented with a 
c turf and twig ' as the emblems of possession, he declared New- 
foundland henceforward to belong to the Crown of England. 
Whereupon a pillar was erected, bearing a leaden plate, on 
which were engraved the queen's arms ; a tax was levied on 
all ships ; and these three laws were promulgated : First, 
that public worship should be celebrated after the ritual of the 
Church of England ; second, that anything attempted preju- 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 411 

dicial to the Queen of England should be counted high treason ; 
third, that any word spoken against her should be punished 
by the loss of ears and property. It is said that obedience to 
Sir Humphrey's proclamations was promised unanimously. 
But here his success ended. Some of his people deserted him, 
a hundred more were wrecked in an exploring expedition, 
and he himself prepared for re-crossing the ocean in his 
former vessel, the ' Little Squirrel,' which was a mere nut- 
shell, and refused to take the command of the stouter vessel, 
the i Golden Hind,' because, he said, ' he would not forsake his 
little company, with whom he had passed so many storms and 
perils.' Being distressed for provisions, he made for Sable 
Island, as some swine and cattle were reported to have been 
left there ; but he found none, and, on reaching the Azores, a 
tremendous storm overtook the two vessels. The ' Golden 
Hind ' kept as near as possible to the ' Little Squirrel,' and in 
the middle of the raging waves Sir Humphrey was seen calmly 
reading on deck, and was heard to ' bid his sailors be of good 
cheer, for we are as near to heaven by sea as by land.' In 
the middle of the night the lights in the i Squirrel ' suddenly 
disappeared ; and this is the last that is known of the fate of 
one of England's bravest adventurers. 

Although several attempts were made to colonise New- 
foundland, none succeeded until Sir George Calvert „ 

' . ° English 

(afterwards Lord Baltimore) settled on the south-east settlement, 
coast with some of his followers in 1623, in order that 
he might profess unmolested his Roman Catholic faith, and 
fixed his head quarters at Ferry land, where he built a fort and a 
house, and lived there for twenty years. In 1635, Charles I. 
gave licence to the French to cure and dry fish on the coast, 
on the payment of five/per cent, on the produce ; and accord- 
ingly they established a colony for themselves in Placentia Bay. 
But this licence to fish proved a dangerous pretext for encroach- 
ment, and in 1708 the French attacked the town of St. John, 
and almost obtained possession of all the English settlements. 
At the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Louis XIV. conceded the 
sovereignty of the island to Great Britain, but retained for 



412 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

his own subjects the right to cure and dry fish on the coast 
between Cape Bonavista and Point Kiche, and to occupy the 
islands of Miquelon and Pierre, guaranteeing that they should 
not be fortified, or kept otherwise than as fishing places. But 
the subject of fishery rights in Newfoundland has been a con- 
stant source of dispute, not only between the English, French, 
and Americans, but also between the English settlers them- 
selves, some of whom endeavoured to secure the monopoly, 
and even to prevent immigration into the island. 

In 1729, Newfoundland was withdrawn from the adminis- 
tration of Nova Scotia, and formed into a separate English 
colony. The British settlements have been almost entirely 
confined to the coast, and it was not until 1823 that the in- 
Natural terior of the country was explored. It was found 
Features, to consist chiefly of rock and swamp, and with the 
soil so poor, and so covered up with moss and stunted shrubs, 
that cultivation in any case would be difficult. The land, how- 
ever, is well watered by many lakes and rivers, the banks of 
which are thinly wooded with birches, poplars, and spruce 
firs. Although the island is in the same latitude as France, 
the climate, except for a few months in summer, is cold, 
damp, and intensely foggy, owing to the cold currents from 
the polar regions mingling with the surrounding waters and 
keeping the temperature constantly below the dew-point. 
The remarkable longevity of the inhabitants proves, however, 
that the climate is not an unhealthy one ; many fishermen, 
it is said, plying their laborious .calling when more than a 
hundred years old. 

Of late years a large extent of land has been brought into 
cultivation, and grain of all sorts, vegetables, and fruit, have 
been made to grow well. Some English fruits are produced 
wild in abundance. After the first clearing of the land, 
raspberry bushes will often overspread the ground, and yield 
fruit as fine as those in our gardens, and currants and goose- 
berries grow wild in the woods. The native animals, black 
bears, wolves, and beavers, are becoming very scarce as the 
land is cleared, and are driven into the interior ; excepting 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 413 

the dog, which is made much use of in drawing sledges and 
little carriages laden with wood and fish, and is usually a 
black, powerful animal, much smaller and less good-looking 
than the handsome mixed species which are here called New- 
foundland dogs. There are no venomous reptiles in the 
island, and neither toads, frogs, nor lizards. 

Seals and whales are exceedingly numerous round the 
shores : the seals are killed in thousands as they lie 
on the ice, and more than 400,000 have been an- 
nually caught in the English fisheries, either by means of 
nets along the shores, or by vessels going out to the fields of 
ice that drift from the arctic regions. This fishery is a most 
important one to the colony, since, besides employing about 
11,000 men in catching the seals, the seal-manufacture — that is, 
preparing the skins and making oil from the fat — gives employ- 
ment to almost every class of labourer and mechanic. The 
whale fishery has also of late become an important branch of 
trade. 

But the cod fishery is the staple occupation, and forms the 
wealth of Newfoundland. This fishery opens in the beginning 
of June and lasts till the middle of October, and is carried on 
in an immense number of boats of all descriptions. The 
British share of the spoil is said to amount annually to 
10,000,000 cod ; and the cod-liver oil, which is extracted by 
merely putting the livers into casks, and when they are decayed 
drawing off the oil, has had an annual value of 60,329/. 

During the last two centuries and a half in which the 
English have occupied Newfoundland, the fish and oil yielded 
by our fisheries alone have exceeded in value 120,000,000/. ; 
and yet the myriads of cod caught seem in no degree to have 
diminished the supply from the banks, and the fish is so 
prolific that it is calculated that the spawn of a single cod, if 
unmolested, would in a few years stock the ocean. 

The population, a fluctuating one of about 120,000, is 
mostly congregated on the peninsula of Avalon. 
The settlements stand on the deep broad bays with 
which the shore is indented, and are so entirely confined to the 



414 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

margin of the island that no person can be found living more 
than five miles from the coast. The bulk of the inhabitants 
are divided into two large classes — namely, the fishermen, 
many of whom are planters and farmers as well; and the 
merchants, who supply the fishermen with the means of car- 
rying on their trade. The original inhabitants, Eed Indians 
and Esquimaux, are now almost extinct, having been killed 
off to a great extent in warfare with the Mic-macs, and by the 
diseases and ' fire-water ' of the Europeans. 

The chief trading-place, as well as capital, is St. John's, 
built on a spacious harbour on the east coast. It is 
' a strongly -fortified place, and contains the Govern- 
ment House and some good public buildings, and, fronting the 
harbour, substantial warehouses and shops. Several disastrous 
fires, which at different periods have nearly destroyed the 
town, have cleared away its old wooden tenements, and the 
long straggling streets now contain stone houses. 

The present Constitution of Newfoundland was granted in 

Govern- 1832, and consists of a Governor and Commander - 

ment, &c. in- Chief ; a Legislative Council of nine members ; 

and a House of Assembly of fifteen members, who are returned 

from St. John's, Conception Bay, and other districts. 

Newfoundland and the Bermudas were formed into one 
diocese in 1839. Income, 1,200Z. Clergy, 51. The Eoman 
Catholics are the most numerous class; next to them, the mem- 
bers of the Church of England ; and the Wesleyans are the 
most numerous of the Dissenters. 

A large portion of the revenue has been lately devoted to 
the construction of roads and bridges. Elementary schools 
have been established in every district, and there are several 
grammar schools, and forty schools established by the British 
North American School Society. The attention paid of late 
years to religion and education, together with temperance 
societies, are said to have worked a great improvement in the 
once rough and disorderly population. 



BERMUDA. 415 



BERMUDA OR SOMERS ISLES. 

The Bermudas are an isolated cluster of strangely-shaped 
islands in the midst of the North Atlantic, 32° 20' N'. latitude, 
64° 30' W. longitude. They are equal in number to the days 
of the year, although most of them are mere specks in the 
ocean, and all the 365 lie within a space of twenty miles long 
and three wide. The rock which forms them, composed of 
minute shells and corals, is so soft that it is a common saying 
that Bermuda might be cut up with a hand-saw. But the 
isles have an unusual protection from the violence of the waves 
in coral reefs, which in some places stretch ten miles into the 
sea, and which would render navigation very perilous, if the 
water were not so wonderfully clear about them that they 
are distinctly visible in their ocean depths. All the islands 
are low and flat, and overgrown with small, stunted cedar 
trees, the dark monotonous hue of which, mingled with the 
bright blossoms of the oleander, which grows wild in great 
abundance, gives quite a peculiar character to the scenery. 
These cedars, being good for ship-building, have played a 
conspicuous part in the islands ever since their first settle- 
ment. 

Bermudez, a Spaniard, first saw the islands in 1527 ; and 
in 1593, an Englishman, Henry May, was cast on the shore 
after a shipwreck, with twenty-five others, who lived on the 
desert isle for five months, feeding on turtles and palmetto- 
berries, and who contrived to build themselves a bark of eighty 
tons, of the cedar wood, in which they sailed home. Sir 
George Somers followed their example when he was wrecked 
on the same coast in 1609, and built two vessels of the hard 
wood, with not a piece of iron about them except the bolt in 
the keel ; in which vessels he and his crew reached Virginia 
in safety, six hundred miles distant. Many distressed mariners 
saved themselves by the same means, and in after times ship- 
building came to be the chief trade of the place ; and the small, 
durable craft which are engaged in the transit trade between 



416 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

Newfoundland, Halifax, and the West Indies, are built of this 
Bermuda timber. These little cedars, however, stand in the 
way at the present day of the more profitable cultivation of 
the island, since they have for so long formed the staple trade 
that the old owners are unwilling to clear their land of them. 

The Bermudas have always been English islands since 
James I. gave a charter of them to the Virginia Company, 
and their first Governor, Mr. More, planted his palmetto hut 
in the island of St. George. During the civil wars of Charles 
I.'s reign many Eoyalists fled to these islands for refuge; 
amongst others the poet Waller, who celebrated their beauty 
in his ' Battle of the Summer Isles.' In the time of the 
American War, they were a most important station for the 
British fleet ; and at the present time Bermuda is valuable to 
England as a colony, a fortress, a convict settlement, and as 
the key to our American territories. 

The only islands of importance are Bermuda, St. George, 
Somerset, Ireland, and St. David's. Bermuda is fifteen miles 
long, and is called c the Continent,' because it has the largest 
extent of connected land. It contains the town of Hamilton, 
the seat of government, which, however, is scarcely more than 
a small village on a dreary-looking hill. St. George is the 
military station. Its capital, St. George, is handsomely built 
of the dazzling white Bermuda stone, and forms a pretty con- 
trast with the dark cedar groves and pastures in the back- 
ground. This island commands the only entrance for large 
vessels, and is strongly fortified. Ireland is the chief naval 
and convict station, and has a dockyard, where about nine 
hundred convicts are lodged in two hulks. About six hundred 
other convicts are stationed at the small island of Boaz. 

Bermuda has been a penal settlement since 1824, when 
a thousand convicts were sent out to work at the breakwater 
and fortifications. Convict labour is now devoted to the dock- 
yard ; and the discipline is the mildest possible. Small wages 
are allowed, with good food and clothing, and ample leisure 
time ; and the prisoners selected for Bermuda are among the 
best behaved class, and whose term of transportation is short. 



BERMUDA. 417 

In the days of slavery, cotton, coffee, and indigo were 
grown ; but now the chief exports are arrow-root (reckoned the 
best in the world), maize, potatoes and garden produce, and 
palmetto and straw hats. The soil is so extremely fertile that 
it will yield two crops of potatoes, and sometimes three of maize, 
barley, and oats in the year. 

The Bermudas are now generally included amongst the 
North American colonies. The Government consists of a 
Governor and Commander-in-Chief (salary, 2,746/.), Council, 
and House of Assembly. The islands are divided into parishes, 
each of which returns four members. The Church of England 
Establishment is included in the diocese of Newfoundland, 
The population is about 12,000. In education the coloured 
population are rapidly progressing, and are thus acquiring 
a respectable position ; but education among the whites is 
hindered by the repugnance of the parents to let their children 
mix with coloured children ; and there are comparatively too 
few whites to maintain separate schools. 



E E 



418 



CHAPTEE IV. 

HUDSON BAY TERRITORY I BRITISH COLUMBIA : VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

By far the largest portion of the British dominions in North 
America are the countries which enclose Hudson's Bay on all 
sides, extending east and west from Labrador to the Rocky- 
Mountains, and from Canada and the United States on the 
south as far towards the North Pole as the right of discovery 
may hereafter give us claim. To this immense region, roughly 
calculated at four million square miles, the general name of 
the Hudson Bay Territory is given. 
Natural The wn °l e country appears to embrace three great 
Features, natural divisions, which have been distinguished as 
the Barren, Prairie, and Woody Regions. The Barren Region 
extends northward from Lake Athabasca down the Mackenzie 
River to the Arctic Ocean, and includes the country above 
the Great Slave and Bear Lakes. Here there is little vegeta- 
tion besides lichens, mosses, and a few stunted plants ; and the 
inhabitants are the Copper Indians, the Hare and Dog-rib 
Indians, the Strong-Bow Indians, the Loucheux or Quarrellers, 
and the Chipewyans — tribes all speaking different languages, 
and apparently in a constant state of feud with one another. 
The Prairie is the middle region, stretching westward to the 
Rocky Mountains and eastward towards Canada, and consists 
for the most part of immense plains destitute of trees, but 
covered with rich grasses and sedges, where herds of deer and 
buffalo find pasture, and where the Blackfeet or Blood Indians 
are perpetually at war with the Stone Indians or Ojibways. 
Since all the tribes depend upon the chase for subsistence, 
inroads upon one another's hunting-grounds are the primary 
cause of almost all Indian warfare. The Woody Region is a 



HUDSON BAY TERRITORY. 419 

vast swampy tract, mostly covered with magnificent forest- trees, 
lying on the south and west shores of Hudson's Bay : it is the 
home of numberless furred creatures — otters, beavers, racoons, 
and moose-deer. The Miskee-Goose or Swampy Indians 
inhabit the coasts about St. James's Bay, while Esquimaux 
and Chipewyans live in the colder latitudes of the York and 
Churchill districts. 

Of the immense region of Labrador, lying to the east of 
Hudson's Bay, only the western half belongs to the Hudson 
Bay Territory. The portion coasting the Atlantic is called 
Labrador Proper, and is a barren and desolate region, in the 
higher latitudes of which only the Esquimaux, rein-deer, and 
musk-ox can subsist, and where the subsoil is permanently 
frozen, and can barely sustain a scanty vegetation. 

Sebastian Cabot in 1517, and John Davis in 1587, were the 

first to penetrate into these extreme northern regions History of 

of America, in their effort to discover the North- settle- 
ment. 
West passage to India. They were followed in their 

researches by Henry Hudson in 1610, who, after enduring the 

severity of a winter on the shore of the great bay named after 

him, had the disappointment of finding that the vast watery 

expanse, which he had believed to be open sea, had no other 

outlet than the straits through which he had entered from the 

Atlantic ; and in these straits, which also bear his name, he 

was turned adrift to perish in an open boat by his mutinous 

crew. A few years after Hudson had met his fate, another 

English navigator, William Baffin, explored the great northern 

bay named after him. 

By degrees these desert regions became sufficiently known 

for their furry treasures to tempt trading adventurers. A 

Frenchman, named Grosseliez, first suggested to his own 

Government the idea of a settlement there, but receiving no 

encouragement he laid his plan before Prince Rupert, who 

warmly entered into the scheme, and in 1668 sent out an 

expedition to hunt for furs, which succeeded so well that he 

was able to induce several noblemen — Lord Ashley, Lord 

Craven, and others — to join him in a fur- trading company. 

EE 2 



420 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

Charles II., who was always liberal in giving away what 

Hudson cost nmi nothing, chartered this company in 1670, 

Com an an( ^ g rante d them ' the sole trade of all the lands and 

territories that lie within the entrance of Hudson's 

Straits ; and of all the havens, bays, creeks, rivers, and lakes 

into which they shall find entrance by land or water out of 

said territories : yielding and paying yearly to us, our heirs 

and successors for the same, two elks and two black beavers, 

whensoever and as often as we, our heirs and successors, shall 

happen to enter into the said countries.' 

The first settlement was made on Eupert's Eiver in 1674 ; 
and soon there flocked into this splendid hunting-ground 
multitudes of hardy adventurers, chiefly from the Highlands, 
who, with their hired bands of Canadian hunters and Indian 
trappers, became naturalised to a half-savage life, and dotted 
the wilderness over with their log-huts and trading-posts. The 
profits of their trade soon tempted the French Government to 
enter into competition ; and the same Grosseliez^ being detached 
from the English service, was sent out to form a factory at 
Hayes Eiver. Henceforward the traffic was embarrassed by 
constant incursions from the French ; nevertheless, the Com- 
pany prospered greatly until 1782, when a rival Company was 
formed, called the North- West or Montreal Company, and 
endless jealousies arose which again impeded the trade. 

In 1821 the term of partnership of this last Company expired, 
and through the influence of their representatives in London, 
the Hon. Edward Ellice and the Messrs. Gillivry, it was merged 
in the Hudson's Bay Company, the privileges of which were 
further extended by a licence to trade over Indian and neutral 
grounds not originally included in the charter. By the treaty 
of Oregon between England and the United States in 1846, 
the parallel of 49° N. latitude was fixed upon as the boundary 
line of this British territory ; the free navigation, however, of 
the Columbia Eiver, which lies south of the boundary, being 
reserved to England. This last licence of 1 82 1 has been renewed 
at different periods until the present time ; and since the Com- 
pany have naturally desired to exclude all traders besides 



HUDSON BAY TEREITOKY. 421 

themselves, all attempts at colonisation have been discouraged, 
and this vast region has thus been kept merely as a preserve 
of savage beasts, valuable only for their furs. 

A Company called the International Financial Society have 
now made arrangements for purchasing the entire property 
and rights of the Hudson's Bay Company, for the sum of 
1,500,000/., with the intention of ojDening the land for emi- 
gration. 

There is a natural hindrance in the way of colonising this 
region, owing to the difficulty of navigation in the rivers and 
bays, and consequently of access to the different districts. The 
Company have nevertheless planted about 140 establishments, 
besides many hunting stations, over nearly the whole of the dis- 
trict. Nearly two million skins have through their agency been 
annually exported to England. The skins of the musk rat alone 
have amounted to half a million. One of the chief fur stations 
is Fort York, on the south-west coast of Hudson's Bay, in the 
neighbourhood of stunted pine forests, and where the winter 
cold is so severe that brandy will freeze in rooms with a con- 
stant fire. The most northerly factories are Fort Good Hope 
on the Mackenzie Eiver, within the Arctic circle, and Fort 
Macpherson on Pearl Eiver. The most southerly is the Eed 
Eiver settlement, founded by the Earl of Selkirk in 1813, and 
which is the only colony to be found in the immense Red Eiver 
middle region known as Eupert's Land. The Settlement, 
settlers at Eed Eiver are mostly emigrants from the Highlands 
and retired servants of the Company, with a few Indians and 
half-castes, and the Company have added to the importance 
of the colony by creating it their seat of government, and 
establishing there a governor, council, sheriffs, &c. No less 
than ten thousand Europeans are resident in this distant and 
isolated settlement, which appears to be not at all destitute of 
comforts or even of refinements. It has communication with 
England by way of Montreal, from which it is distant 1,800 
miles. The country round about is described as well adapted 
for further colonisation ; the drier tracts are suitable for the 
growth of cereals and other farming operations ; sheep thrive 



422 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

"well on the rich grass lands, and pigs get their own living 
in the stunted oak woods. At present, the only roads from 
the settlement lead into the American territory, from whence 
it derives its supplies ; but probably before long, roads will be 
made connecting this colony with Western Canada, and even 
with our new colonies in the extreme west. 

In 1849 the Eupert' s Land bishopric was founded, including 
the territory of the Hudson Bay Company. The income 
(700/.), is from the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund ; clergy, 20. 

In Labrador the chief forts are Eupert House and East 
Main House, in the district of Eupert Eiver and East Main. 
In Labrador Proper a few Moravian settlements are the only 
stations, and in that desolate region, where corn will not 
ripen, and only Esquimaux can thrive, fishing forms the 
staple occupation. About 20,000 British subjects are employed 
in the perilous seal and whale fisheries of these coasts, and in 
the safer but less valuable cod, herring, and salmon traffic. 

BRITISH COLUMBIA AND VANCOUVER ISLAND. 

The inhospitable regions lying to the east of the Eocky 
Mountains had been planted with European settlements for 
nearly two centuries, and yet hitherto no adventurer had crossed 
over the great barrier and explored the country on the western 
side, until about seventy years ago, when Sir Alexander 
Mackenzie, while tracing the source of the Peace and Fraser 
Eivers, passed over the range at the northern end, and was thus 
the first British subject to enter the land now called British 
Columbia. Scarcely a year afterwards, in 1791, 

Discovery f J 

and First George Vancouver, in exploring the west coast from 
emeu . ^ e p ac i nc Ocean, made a survey of the island which 
bears his name. This island was immediately claimed by 
England, and the history of the two settlements became closely 
connected. 

The Hudson Bay traders, finding that there were furred 
animals and fur-hunting Indians on the other side of the 
Eocky Mountains, soon planted settlements there, the first of 
which was Fort Fraser, established by Mr. Fraser in 1806, on 



BEITISH COLUMBIA. 423 

the river that bears his name. In 1849, Vancouver Island 
was granted to the Company on condition that they should 
colonise it ; but it was not for the interest of the Company to 
invite competitors into their hunting-fields, and the only at- 
tempts they made at settlement was the establishment of some 
trading stations for the exportation of the furs collected on 
the west side of the mountains, the chief of which was Fort 
Victoria, at the south end of the island, 

In 1858, a new and sudden interest was given to these 
regions by the discovery of rich gold diggings on GoidDis- 
the Fraser Eiver. Multitudes of adventurers, first cover F- 
from California, and then from all quarters, were immediately 
attracted thither, who made use of Victoria as a halting station 
and provision depot, and who soon helped to make known and 
to develop the resources of the land. The next year (1859) 
the charter of the Hudson Bay Company expired, and with it 
their licence of exclusive trade over the territory ; and British 
Columbia and Vancouver Island were then constituted sepa- 
rate colonies and dependencies of the Home Government, and 
were placed under the direction of Mr. Douglas, a gentle- 
man whose service under the Company had made him familiar 
with the region. 

British Columbia is a quadrangular territory of about 
200,000 square miles, or nearly twice the size of Great 
Britain; bounded on the north by Eussian America, on the 
south by the State of Oregon, on the east by the Eocky 
Mountains, and on the west by the North Pacific ; it in- 
cludes the island of Queen Charlotte and all other adjacent 
islands, except Vancouver. 

Although in the same latitude as the British Isles, the 
climate of British Columbia is more severe ; but the Natural 
average number of fine days to the year, 187, is Features. 
rather more than in England. The country is of a moun- 
tainous character, and wild and rugged in the extreme towards 
the east, where the spurs of the Eocky Mountains traverse the 
land in all directions, and form a confused maze of steep hill, 



424 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

valley, and ravine. Dense forests almost entirely cover this 
wild and solitary region, through which the gold- seekers have 
to make their way northward to the Cariboo country ; and the 
difficulties in the way of clearing the bush in Columbia seem 
to be peculiar. ' Felling the trees,' says Commander Mayne, 
1 forms but a small part. In forests such as these the roots of 
the giant trees have been spreading underground for ages, 
forming a close and perfect net-work some eight or ten feet 
beneath the surface. To dig this mass of interlaced roots up 
would defy the strength and patience of ordinary men ; and it 
is only the wonderful dexterity of the Canadian — and, indeed, 
of the Americans generally— in handling his axe that enables 
him to enter upon, far less accomplish, so difficult a task.' 
On the other hand, there are some clear districts which may 
well reward the agriculturist. The soil is very fertile, and 
European vegetables and other produce have been found to 
thrive abundantly. Wild fruits and flowers flourish every- 
where. 

Hitherto the attempts at settlement have been confined to 
Mining ^ ne far-trading districts and to the track and neigh- 
Districts, bourhood of the diggings ; and a large portion of the 
country that lies north, north-east, and westward, between the 
Eraser Eiver and the coast, has only been imperfectly explored. 
The coast itself is singular, from its numerous bays and inlets 
and the broken fringe of islands which border it ; of which 
islands Vancouver and Queen Charlotte are the largest. 
Several of these inlets of the sea, which are navigable for a 
long distance inland, such as Bentinck's Arms and Bute's 
Land, have been used as routes to Cariboo by means of trails 
or waggon- roads joining them at their farther end. The gold- 
diggings first discovered were those about the Forts Hope and 
Yale, on the Lower Fraser, and to these access was compara- 
tively easy by the river itself. But in 1861 followed the dis- 
covery of the Cariboo mines, 300 miles higher up, and the 
river route there was found difficult and expensive, and the 
journey by road and < trails,' or foot-paths of the Indians, 
scarcely better. Cariboo, or more properly i Cariboeuf.' or 



BRITISH COLUMBIA. 425 

Eeindeer country, is a district in New Caledonia, lying to the 
north-east of the Fraser on the Kiver Thompson; and the 
mining localities are distinguished by the miners by such 
names as Grouse Creek, Goose Creek, Snowshoe, Jack of 
Clubs, Last Chance Creek — all of them being streams which 
issue from the Bald Mountains. 

From the yield of gold hitherto, and from the survey of the 
country by Dr. Forbes in 1860, there seems reason to believe 
that the whole region, extending to the other side of the Eocky 
Mountains, is rich in gold and argentiferous deposits. The 
value of the gold exports from the whole of the diggings was, 
in 1861, above a million sterling. In proportion to this yield, 
the miners, or rather washers, are but few. They are a rough, 
lawless race, belonging to all nations, including hundreds 
from China and thousands from San Francisco ; and it speaks 
well for the vigilance of Governor Douglas and his police that 
order has been tolerably well preserved among them, although 
it has been found expedient to station a small military force 
near the diggings, and British gunboats have occasionally been 
demanded up the Fraser. Since all the provisions at the 
diggings have to be imported, and the roads are imperfect, the 
miners are liable to changes from the utmost plenty to actual 
starvation ; and reports given in the winter-time may describe 
the condition of these men as most wretched, while those given 
in the summer-time will picture the miner as ' sitting down to 
his breakfast of eggs and milk/ and surrounded with every 
luxury. 

In the winter- time there must necessarily be privation and 
suffering. The roads are then impassable, the snow lies on 
1hem often twenty feet deep ; and families, distant from all 
help, have perished from want, or fallen a prey to consump- 
tion and other diseases from cold which are common in that 
climate. The effects of frost there are said to be tremendous. 
The woodman's axe splinters like glass, the horses' hoofs crack, 
and the poor animals are sometimes stifled as they travel by 
the breath freezing till it becomes a cake of ice. The gloomy 
vastness and grandeur of the scenery, rendered more impres- 



426 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

sive by the howling of beasts of prey, which make this colony 
so attractive to the artist or the huntsman, only then add to 
the desolation of the miserable miners, who, if they do not 
decamp, as the Chinese do, before the rigour of winter begins, 
often have to live through it in holes of snow, dug seven 
or eight feet deep. The number of emigrants who return 
wretched and penniless to Westminster, show that Cariboo is 
not a land of plenty to all, or indeed to any but those who can 
endure hardship as well as work hard ; and the average 
earnings at the mines, since 1858, are reported as not ex- 
ceeding 100Z. a-year, while the average cost of living has 
been 60/. 

The only place in British Columbia that can be called a 
town is New Westminster, near the mouth of the Fraser. It is 
the only port of entry to the colony ; and the whole business 
of the town is at present confined to the import of provisions 
and other necessaries for the miners up country. 

The other two chief centres of traffic are Hope and Yale, on 
the Fraser, formerly fur-trading stations, but now small town- 
ships with considerable trade. Yale is the head of the 
steamboat navigation of the Fraser, and is 102 miles from its 
mouth; Hope, 15 miles lower down, is likely to become im- 
portant as an outlet for the Similkameen district, a rich 
pastoral country along the Columbia Eiver. 

Vancouver is an island 290 miles long, with an average 
width of 55 miles, and in area nearly a quarter the size of 
England and Wales. It is separated by a narrow channel 
from the west coast of British Columbia ; and, from its couir 
manding position in the North Pacific, is fast becoming a place 
of importance. Some, indeed, have given the title of ' England 
in the West' to this narrow strip of land 5,000 miles distant; 
and there are a few points of resemblance — such as its tem- 
perature, climate, excellent harbours, probable mineral wealth 
and coal ; besides its maritime position, through which it bears 
about the same relation to the Pacific that England bears to 
the Atlantic. 



VANCOUVER. 427 

But here the resemblance ends. The greater part of Vancou- 
ver consists of mountain, swamp, and land unfit for N atura i 
cultivation ; and its general aspect is that of a series Features. 
of lofty pine-clad hills, rising in irregular beauty one behind 
the other. But the soil on these hills is but barely sufficient 
for the stunted trees to take root, and in the intervening valleys 
only small patches of arable land are to be found ; and it is 
only apparently at the southern end of the island that farms 
or sheep stations are possible. Nevertheless, in what there is 
of soil, cereals and vegetables thrive freely. In its geological 
structure, the island consists of a central axis of igneous rocks, 
which are overtopped by carboniferous and other sedimentary 
strata extending to the shore ; and coal has already cropped 
out at so many different parts of the coast that it would seem 
to be widely distributed. At Nanaimo, on the south-east, a 
coal- exploring settlement has already sprung up. No metal 
has hitherto been found excepting copper, and there are no 
indications of gold in the island. 

Victoria, the capital, only a few years ago a small village 
station for the fur-traders, is now a busy, populous 
town, and is becoming, not merely a resort for the 
miners of British Columbia, but a great centre of trade for the 
west coast of America and for the islands of the Pacific. 
Already the town has its hotels, boarding-houses, schools, 
newspapers, theatre, gas-works, Government buildings, and 
churches. 

The harbour of Victoria is small and confined, and some- 
what unsafe, from a sand-bank and rocks near its Esqni- 
en trance ; but only three miles distant is the harbour mauit. 
of Esquimault, a magnificent haven, capable of sheltering a 
whole navy, and now the station of the British fleet for the 
North Pacific. With a direct ocean-route to Polynesia and 
Eastern Asia, the existence of this harbour may secure here- 
after to Vancouver some of the commerce which has hitherto 
belonged chiefly to Europe and the United States, especially 
if English capital and industry shall one day convert this 
island into a manufacturing centre ; and if the contemplated 



428 BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. 

railway communication from the lake district of West Canada 
should be opened, and should thus form a direct line of com- 
munication between British Columbia and Canada, and thence 
with England, Vancouver may prove the great emporium for 
the supply of the other hemisphere with British goods and 
manufactures. 

No regular census of the fluctuating population of these 
colonies has yet been possible. It consists of Europeans, 
Chinese, Americans, and native Indians. These last are a 
harmless, tractable race, who have long been trained by the 
Hudson Bay employes to fear and reverence 'King George's 
men.' They are excellent guides and huntsmen, with so extra- 
ordinary a power of locality, that it is said they can draw a 
map of any country they have once passed through. Their 
aptness in imitating the ' white man's ways' exhibits itself in 
gaming and drinking, and in the voluminous crinolines and 
hats that are now added to the red ochre and wampum. 

Although British Columbia and Vancouver are separate 
colonies, they are presided over by one Governor and Com- 
mander-in-Chief ; and at present there are no elements for a 
representative legislature, although a free municipal consti- 
tution has been granted to New Westminster, which is reported 
to work well. 

British Columbia became a bishopric in 1859, through the 
munificence of Miss Burdett Coutts, who gave 25,000Z. for a 
foundation. Near the town of Victoria, the first bishop, Dr. 
Hills, erected his episcopal palace, which consisted of a small 
wooden hut, with the outer door opening into his sitting-room. 
i If anybody knocks,' says the bishop, ' I open the door my- 
self From this modest centre, Dr. Hills appears to have 
extended the influence, not only of a true Christian teacher, 
but of a practical helper to all classes in the colony ; and it is 
a singular circumstance that he has found more to aid him in 
his work among the so-called heathen than among the Christian 
sects ; for example, one Mr. Quong-Hing, a Chinese merchant, 
has been especially zealous with respect to the foundation of an 
episcopal church in Victoria, and in otherwise aiding the cause. 



429 



CHAPTER V. 

WEST INDIES. 

On looking at a map of the western hemisphere, it at once 
strikes the eye that at one time the two Americas must have 
had a far broader connexion than the isthmus that begins at 
Panama and ends at Mexico, and that the West Indian Islands 
can be nothing else than the remains of the eastern rim of a 
vast intervening continent. The islands follow one another 
for the most part in an orderly series, like the tops of mountain 
ridges, and in such connected curves, that if joined together in 
a line united at one end to South America by Trinidad, and 
at the other end with North America by the Little Bahamas, 
they would enclose the two great seas of the Gulf of Mexico 
and the Caribbean Sea. And this impression agrees with the 
theory held by geologists, that the land of Central America 
has in fact been submerged where these two seas now are, and 
that the West Indies are but the summits of the mountain 
ridges or highlands that lie beneath, and which the coral insect 
has helped to form into their present island state. The 
tremendous earthquakes to which this region is still liable, and 
the volcanic character of many of the islands, give probability 
to the idea that some such mighty convulsion may have sunk 
the earth to the great depth which is found to exist between 
the islands ; while the nature of the fossil remains seems to 
prove that South America and the archipelago once formed an 
unbroken continent, and that the subsidence took place at no 
distant geological period — even after the extinction of the large 
quadrupeds. 

The West Indies consist of nearly a thousand islands, which 
are usually arranged into three groups, viz. the Bahamas or 



430 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

Lucayos ; the Greater Antilles, that is, Cuba, Jamaica, Hayti, 
and Porto Eico ; and the Lesser Antilles or Caribbee Isles. 
All are within the tropics, excepting the most northerly of the 
Bahamas. 

There is a marked difference between the general character 
of the northern and southern islands. The Bahamas, about 
five hundred in number, are flat, long, narrow isles, scarcely 
standing six feet above high-water mark, the shores formed of 
coral or madrepores, and the soil in the interior of calcareous 
rocks and sand mixed with shells ; with this peculiarity, that 
the isles rest upon sandbanks, which encircle them a few 
fathoms below the water, but which rise almost perpendicularly 
from hitherto unfathomable depths on the side against the sea. 
Cuba rests on a similar bank. The Caribbees are of a bolder 
character and of volcanic origin, and mostly have a solitary 
mountain or group of mountains in the centre, and slope 
precipitously towards the sea on the eastern side. These islands 
form a magnificent sweep, bounding the Caribbean Sea on the 
east ; and from Trinidad to Dominica are ranged in single 
line, and are called the Windwards. North of this the line 
divides into two, and this double range as far as the Virgin 
Isles is called the Leewards. The mountainous character 
continues through the whole of the Greater Antilles, which, 
indeed, seem one immense mountain- chain now broken by the 
intervention of the sea, and culminating at a height of 6,890 
feet in the Montanos del Cobre in Cuba. 

Before the time of Columbus, European navigators had 
believed in the existence of unknowm lands beyond the western 
seas, and even visible signs of their fertility and inhabitants 
had, according to the reports of sailors, been wafted across the 
ocean. Huge pine-trunks and strange reeds and trees had been 
cast on to the shores of the Azores after a continuance of. 
westerly winds ; and at one time a curiously-fashioned canoe 
and two dead bodies of men, in feature and complexion of an 
unknown race, were drifted on to the coast ; also some hundred 
leagues west of Cape St. Vincent, the brother-in-law of 
Columbus, Pedro Correa, and other sailors, had picked up 



DISCOVERY OF THE WEST INDIES. 431 

from the sea curiously-carved pieces of wood, evidently cut 
with tools unknown to Europeans. 

It is said that in old maps the name of Antilla was given to 
this imaginary country (supposed to be derived from Ante 
Illas, Forward Islands), and that consequently Antilles was the 
first name assigned by Columbus to the islands upon their 
actual discovery. But Columbus was under a wrong impres- 
sion as to the size of the world, and calculating it to be much 
smaller than it really is, believed that his newly-found islands 
were close upon India or the Asiatic continent, and, accord- 
ingly, applied the name of West Indies to the whole group, 
and gave the general name of Indians to all the inhabitants. 

Nearly all the islands were discovered by Columbus in the 
course of his four voyages ; but the first on which he _. 

J ° Discovered 

landed, October 12, 1492, was San Salvador, called byCoium- 
by the natives Guanahane, one of the Lucayos or 
Bahamas, and supposed to be the same as Cat Island ; a flat, 
thickly- wooded island, thronged with naked inhabitants, whose 
rights Columbus, according to the usage of discoverers, com- 
pletely ignored, as he unfurled the royal standard and took 
possession of their land in the name of their Spanish Majesties. 
These Indians, the Arrowawks, were a handsome copper- 
coloured race, with fine eyes, high foreheads, and long black 
hair, much embellished with paint and golden ornaments in 
their ears and noses, and who showed their excellent natural 
instincts by meeting the strangers with reverence and delight, 
and loading them with kindnesses. ' So loving, so tractable, 
so peaceable are these people,' writes Columbus, ' that I swear 
to your Majesties, there is not in the world a better nation nor 
a better land. They love their neighbours as themselves ; and 
their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with 
a smile ; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their 
manners are decorous and praiseworthy.' The same race of 
Arrowawks appears to have extended over the whole of the 
Bahamas and the Greater Antilles, and, until that unhappy 
day when the Europeans first landed amongst them, to have 
led a most peaceful and contented life, disturbed only by the 



432 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

incursions of a ferocious tribe, called by the Spaniards 
' Caribs,' who inhabited the more southern isles of the Carib- 
bean group. Between these two races there seems to have 
been an hereditary antipathy, owing to difference of language, 
customs, and traditions ; and while the Arrowawks welcomed 
the Spaniards as friends of a higher species, the Caribs in- 
variably received them with yells, and tomahawks, and all 
the means of resistance in their power. 

But both races were destined to the same fate — to be 
quickly exterminated, with the exception of a small remnant 
of Caribs, by a more powerful people, whom the lust of gold 
had degraded below humanity, and to whom a higher intellect 
had given the cunning and cruelty of demons to compass 
their ends. From the moment that the unsuspicious natives 
pointed out to Columbus and his followers the way to the gold 
districts in the south of their island, in reply to the eager signs 
of the Spaniards to tell them where their golden ornaments 
came from, the fate of the whole aboriginal population of the 
Columbian Archipelago was sealed. No charge of avarice or 
wanton cruelty can attach to the great name of Columbus, and 
the personal affection of the native chiefs to himself, and the 
protection they afforded him, show that at least he did not 
begin by abusing their confidence. But Columbus was 
himself driven by a hard master, Ferdinand II., whose ruling 
passion was the thirst for gold ; and gold was therefore to be 
got at any price. Columbus, consequently, enforced tribute 
from the natives, and compelled them to labour in the mines, 
for which their slender frames and vegetable diet rendered 
them unfit ; and even, contrary to the express commands of 
the gentle and pious Queen Isabella, distributed them as 
slaves amongst his countrymen ; and thus he began a system 
of oppression which, carried on by less scrupulous leaders, 
soon changed these fair islands into one vast arena of blood- 
shed and crime. 

Columbus died at Valladolid, in 1506, after the discovery 
and settlement of most of the larger islands, which he believed 
to the last to belong to the Asiatic Continent According to 



SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST INDIES. 433 

Las Casas, a priest who accompanied Columbus in his second 
voyage, the islands at that time ' abounded with inhabitants 
as an ant-hill with ants ; ' but in less than fifty years no less 
than ' fifteen millions ' had been destroyed by the Spaniards, 
either by direct slaughter or by torture and overwork in the 
mines, or by diseases introduced by themselves. The atro- 
cities recorded as committed in sport upon the unhappy 
Indians by their so-called Christian invaders, are too de- 
moniacal to be described. Compared with a Spanish settler 
of those days, the cannibal, who merely kills] his fe*Llow-man 
for food, becomes a respectable animal. Las Casas and other 
missionaries laboured hard to protect the Indians, and, in order 
to save them from their wretched fate in the mines, Las Casas 
was the first to suggest the importation from Africa of the 
more robust negroes. As we have seen in the his - Negroes 
tory of the West African colonies, the plan sue- introduced, 
ceeded only too well for the colonists. The negro race was 
introduced, but this did not prevent the destruction of the 
native races, who, in little more than half a century, were 
swept away from the face of the earth. 

For many years the Spaniards had sole possession of the 
West Indies ; but by degrees other nations began to interfere 
with their monopoly. The first English vessels in those seas 
were two ships of Avar under Sebastian Cabot and Sir Thomas 
Pert, in 1516, and in 1536, Hawkins, Drake, and Kaleigh, 
and also French navigators, entered the field. Owing 
to the desperate and jealous resistance which the Spaniards 
opposed to all new-comers, a desultory warfare commenced 
in the archipelago, in which the Spaniards were the common 
enemy of French, English, and Dutch. This warfare was 
carried on quite irrespective of home authorities, and the 
barbarities inflicted by the Spaniards upon all mariners and 
settlers beside themselves, drove the more daring of the 
English and French adventurers to form themselves into 
privateering companies, called filibusters and buccaneers ; the 
last name, especially applied to the English, being derived 
from boucan, a Caribbee. word for dried meat, the native mode 

F F 



434 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

of preparing which was adopted by the English pirates. 
These privateers effected a settlement in many of the islands, 
where they lived in log-huts, and hunted the wild cattle, and 
became regular trading communities, as well as a terror 
and a check to the Spaniards ; and in Charles IL's time 
the buccaneering system was publicly patronized by the 
British Government to save the cost of a regular fleet in the 
archipelago. 

Meanwhile, the English had begun to make permanent 
First acquisitions. Barbadoes first fell into their hands 

Settlement * n 1605, a ^ ter ** na ^ ^ een deserted by the Spaniards 
1605. and all its inhabitants carried off to the mines of 

Cuba. Jamaica, in 1655, was their most important conquest, 
and by the year 1810, England had gained almost every 
European territory in the West Indies. Some of the more 
valuable possessions were afterwards restored to their former 
owners ; and the English settlements now are : — 

Jamaica and the Caymanas Nevis and Kedonda 

The Bahamas Angtjilla 

Virgin Isles St. Vincent 

Barbuda Barbadoes 

St. Christopher's St. Lucia 

Antigua Grenada and the Grenadines 

montserrat tobago 

Dominica Trinidad. 

The staple productions of the West Indies are sugar and 
coffee ; and the extracts from the sugar-cane, rum and 
molasses. The exports of less importance are, cotton, tobacco, 
pimento or Jamaica pepper, indigo, ginger, aloes, cochineal, 
dye-woods and medicinal herbs, mahogany and other orna- 
mental woods. The main staple of food is maize. 

Before the cultivation of the cane, first in Barbadoes, and 
then in our other West Indian colonies, sugar was a costly 
luxury in England, and all that was consumed in this country 
was obtained from the Portuguese territory of Brazil. The 
art of making sugar had been introduced into Spain by the 
Moors, and although there is some doubt whether the Spaniards 



PRODUCTIONS OF THE WEST INDIES. 435 

found the plant indigenous to the New World, they established 
the manufacture there in the earliest days of settlement, and 
in 1518 no less than twenty-eight sugar-works were in opera- 
tion in St. Domingo. 

Sugar appears to have been an article of commerce in the 
East at least as early as the beginning of our era, and a writer 
in the time of Nero, Dioscorides, is the first who uses the 
word saccharum ((TaKx<*pov), or sugar, describing it as a sort of 
concreted honey, found upon canes in India and Arabia Felix. 
Pliny says that the ' white and brittle,' honey which was 
collected from canes, was used in medicine only. 

But it appears that the Crusaders first gave Western Europe 
a taste for sugar, and in one of the early histories of the 
crusades, dated 1108, it is said that c sweet honied reeds called 
zucra, were found in great quantity in the meadows of 
Tripoli, and that these reeds were sucked by the crusaders' 
army, who were much pleased with their sweet taste.' Also 
that, l The husbandmen cultivate this plant with great labour, 
and when ripe, bruise it in mortars and set by the strained 
juice in vessels till it concretes in the form of snow or white 
salt. This, when scraped, they mix with bread, or rub it 
with water and take it as pottage ; and it is to them more 
wholesome and pleasing than the honey of bees.' * This is the 
oldest known description of the extraction of sugar from the 
cane. About the same date, 1110, we hear of * camels laden 
with sugar,' as among the captured booty of the Crusaders ; 
and in the same century the King of Sicily is stated to have 
endowed the monastery of St. Bennet with a mill for grinding 
sugar-canes, and the manufacture seems to have extended to 
Spain, Madeira, and the Canaries, and thence in after years to 
the New World. 

The coffee plant, Coffea Arabica, is a native of the East, 
and the use of the berry is said to have been first introduced 
into England in 1652, by a Turkey merchant named Edwards, 
who brought home with him a Greek servant accustomed to 
make coffee, and whom he set up in a coffee-house in Cornhill. 
* Knight's Penny Cyclopcedia. 

FF 2 



436 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

But the coffee -trade has been created entirely since the 
beginning of the last century, and all the coffee grown in the 
New World is the progeny of a single shrub grown in the 
Botanic Garden of Amsterdam from seed obtained from 
Mocha, plants from which were sent out to Dutch Guiana in 
1718. The coffee grown in the West Indies never equals in 
quality the genuine Mocha grown in the Arabian plains. The 
perfection of the plant can only be attained in a climate where 
light pours down uninterrupted from cloudless skies, and where 
the heat of tropical plains is combined with an elevated posi- 
tion and abundance of water-supply. 

Since the abolition of slavery the staple produce has much 
diminished in the West Indian colonies, owing to the difficulty 
of procuring labour, and the embarrassed position of the 
planters, who, unable themselves to produce sugar at so low a 
rate as formerly, are beaten in price by the Spanish slave- 
holders of Cuba and Porto Eico. Those islands, however, in 
which the planters can pay fair wages and improve their cul- 
tivation, or in wdiich fresh labourers have been introduced from 
Hindostan, China, and Africa, are rapidly recovering their 
prosperity. The value of the West Indian colonies as markets 
for home produce has increased since emancipation, in con- 
sequence of the negro population being now comparatively 
respectable and prosperous, and requiring more and more 
of British clothing and manufactures. 

Each of these colonies, with one or two exceptions, has a 
representative government, similar in constitution to our king, 
lords, and commons, viz. governor, legislative council, and 
representative assembly, subordinate to a governor-in-chief 
appointed by the Crown. 

The negroes and mixed races generally speak the language 
and profess the religion of the white race dominant in each 
island. 



JAMAICA* 437 



JAMAICA. 

Jamaica — so called from its native name of Xaymaca, 
which is supposed to mean, c abundance of wood and Natural 
water; ' and called by Columbus St. Jago — is an Features. 
island in the Caribbean Sea, about 143 miles long, and 45 
broad in the centre or widest part ; N. latitude, 17° 40' to 
18° 30' ; W. longitude, 76° 15' to 78° 25'. Like the other 
islands of the Great Antilles group, Jamaica seems to have had 
its origin in some upheaving force running east and west, of 
which the chief point of convulsion was in the east ; thus 
causing its longitudinal form in that direction, and the pre- 
ponderance of high mountain masses in the eastern portion, 
from which the land, although mostly hilly, slopes towards 
the west. It was probably the summits of the principal ridge 
in the east, the Blue Mountains, 7,150 feet at the highest 
peak, that Columbus first caught sight of during his second 
voyage, on the morning of May 3, 1494. This main range 
runs west for some distance, forming a high middle ridge, the 
mountain crests of which at some points are so sharp that the 
summits scarcely measure four feet across; and towards the 
centre of the island branch chains radiate from this chain and 
fill the whole of the eastern part. These highest mountains are 
flanked by lower ranges of wooded heights, and these again 
descend to green savannahs or open meadows, with occasional 
glimpses of scenery that almost equal that of Switzerland. For 
the beauty of its hills, forests, and pastures, this Queen of the 
Antilles has been thought even to rival Ceylon, in the opposite 
hemisphere. 

Owing to the inequalities of the surface, the climate is very 
various ; moderate and healthy in the mountains, but exceed- 
ingly hot in the lower plains, especially on the southern coast, 
where fever is often prevalent. The mean summer heat is 
80°, and that of winter 75° ; and there is no place within the 
tropics so well adapted to Europeans, as well as to the natives 
of the torrid zone. Like most tropical countries, there are 
two rainy and two dry seasons. The rains in spring and 



438 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

autumn pour down with little interruption for weeks together, 
and between the wet seasons the island is occasionally visited 
by tremendous hurricanes, which mostly set in from the north 
and north-west. The central districts, which lie upon lime- 
stone formations, are dependent upon the rain for water, which 
is collected in tanks, but the rest of the island is well supplied 
with rivers and springs. 

The forest -trees are in great variety, including cedar, 
Chief Pro- mahogany, satin-wood, bread-nut, and cocoa-nut- 
ductions. trees; and, largest of all, the magnificent cotton- 
tree, the trunk of which is supported by huge natural but- 
tresses, which, growing out from the base, join the roots with 
the trunk sometimes twenty feet above the ground. The 
natives made their canoes of the hollo wed-out trunk. Among 
the natural productions of the island are, maize, tobacco, 
pimento, indigo, arrow-root, ginger, cacao, guinea-corn, yams, 
cassava, and the castor-oil nut. 

The most fertile districts are on the northern side, in the 
parish of St. Ann, but this is chiefly a grazing country. By 
far the greater portion of the island is covered with jungle or 
bush, dotted here and there with the provision-grounds of the 
negroes, which are cultivated by themselves, and are exceed- 
ingly picturesque with their orange groves, bread-fruit and 
cocoa-trees, mangoes and limes, yam and potato-plots, and 
patches of the tobacco-plant, which is grown for their own 
special use. 

The chief produce of Jamaica is sugar and coffee. The 
coffee is principally cultivated on the lower hills and their 
declivities ; and in the hot plains below are the sugar-planta- 
tions, which occupy the greater part of the cultivated tracts, 
which compose about two-fifths of the whole island. In the 
extreme south-east, in the parish of St. George, is the largest 
unbroken expanse of cane-fields, where about 4,000 acres are 
under canes. Cotton was formerly grown in the island, but 
the colonists abandoned it when the sugar-trade began to 
prosper. Lately, however, the cultivation has been revived. 
No European fruits thrive except the vine. 



MAROONS OF JAMAICA. 439 

European domestic animals nourish in Jamaica ; but, as in 
all the West Indies, the native animals are nearly extinct. 

Besides salt-springs, there is little mineral produce, and no 
metals at present are worked, excepting lead and copper. 

The aborigines of Jamaica were of the gentle race of 
Arrowawk Indians, and were found living in populous History f 
villages, in neatly-built huts, furnished with con- Settlement. 
siderable skill. When Admirals Penn and Venables made 
the conquest of the island in 1655, sixty years after its first 
occupation by the Spaniards, no trace of this native population 
was found, and in the interval more than 60,000 had perished. 
But the African race, which had supplied their place in the 
plantations, had thriven well, in spite of their hard task- 
masters. Sir Hans Sloane* says that a hundred years was 
no uncommon age for a negro to attain ; and so well the 
climate suited them, that it needed a fearful amount of cruelty 
to keep up their mortality to the most profitable point for the 
slave-holder, whose purpose it often answered better to buy 
negroes in the prime of life, at from 30Z. to 50/. each, than to 
rear and preserve them to old age. 

The condition of the slave was if anything worse under the 
English than it had been under the Spaniards ; and retribution 
came in constant negro insurrections and conspiracies, and a 
state of insecurity and disorganisation throughout the whole 
colony, which rendered futile most of the efforts made for its 
advancement during the governments of Oliver Cromwell and 
Charles II. Besides which there was another and most serious 
source of disturbance. Upon the invasion of the English, 
many Spaniards and blacks took refuge in the wooded moun- 
tains of the interior, where their descendants, called 
Maroons (a name supposed either to mean hog- 
hunters or monkeys, and given in derision to the runaways), 



* A physician and naturalist, who wrote ' A Natural History of 
Jamaica,' and whose vast collection of dried plants, curiosities and 
books, purchased by Government at his death, in 1753, for 20,000^., was 
the origin of the British Museum. 



440 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

supported themselves for more than a century and a half; 
making constant predatory incursions into the villages, and 
rendering the ' bush' a secure refuge for runaway slaves. 
These Maroons became in time so formidable, that a large 
military force had to be added to the packs of bloodhounds* 
hitherto kept by the British Government for their extermina- 
tion. But the English soldiers were not adepts at bush-fight- 
ing, and the aid of the Mosquito Indians, from the coast of 
Central America, had to be called in, when the struggle reached 
its climax at the end of the last century ; at which time the 
Maroons made a final and desperate attempt to gain the mastery, 
in imitation of the negroes of Hayti, who in 1790 had overcome 
the French proprietors of the island, and had gained a recog- 
nised freedom and independence. 

The Maroons, although but a handful of men, made a manful 
stand against the English troops and militia, and were only at 
last induced to surrender by the promise that land should be 
portioned out to them to cultivate for themselves. To the 
disgrace of the English, this promise was broken when once 
the Maroons were in their power, and the last remnant of 
them, about six hundred, were shipped off to the cold deserts 
of Nova Scotia, from which, as we have seen in the history of 
the African colonies, they were humanely released, and con- 
veyed to the more congenial climate of Sierra Leone. 

Until the Eestoration, Jamaica was under military juris- 
diction : but Oliver Cromwell had granted to the 

Organised 7 . ,.*.'...■,". -, . 

Govern- settlers all the privileges of British citizens, and, m 
men ' ' 1660, a regular civil government was established, 
ivith a Governor-in-chief and elective council. Two years 
afterwards the island was first divided into parishes, local 
magistrates and judges were appointed, and a militia was or- 
ganised. But, although increasing from that time in trade 



* An order in the State Paper Office, dated August 1659, directs 
' Mr. Peter Pugh, treasurer, to pay unto Mr. John Hoy the summe of 
201. sterling out of the impost money, to pay for fifteen doggs, broughte 
by him for the hunting of the negros.' 



NEGRO INSURRECTION IN JAMAICA. 441 

and population, so little had the island in reality become sub- 
ject to law and order, that privateers, slave-dealers, and slave- 
owners formed the upper classes, whose profligacy and cruelty 
towards the negro population were revenged by constant 
conspiracies and outbreaks ; and, in 1674, we find that the 
Lieutenant-Governor was Sir Henry Morgan, a notorious 
buccaneer, whose atrocities had made him the terror of the 
Spaniards, but whose exploits, together with the buccaneering 
system in general, were overlooked by the Government in 
order to save the expense of a regular fleet. 

In the midst of wealth, luxury, and wickedness on one 
hand, and misery on the other, Jamaica was, in 1692, visited 
by an appalling earthquake. Heralded by a tremendous un- 
derground roar, the sea suddenly rose above the tops of the 
houses, whole chains of hills were torn asunder, the mountains 
are said literally to have crumbled down and buried the 
villages in the plains, and the whole surface of the island was 
sunk and changed in outline. Besides an enormous loss of 
life, all the plantations and sugar- works were destroyed, and 
all the official records were lost. The tops of the submerged 
houses of Port Eoyal are still to be seen in calm weather 
under the sea, and at the harbour in Green Bay is a monument 
recording the escape of a Frenchman, Louis Caldy, who was 
swallowed up by the earthquake, and thrown up again by a 
second shock into the sea, and finally rescued by a boat. 

This earthquake is memorable as being the most terrible 
that has ever been known to visit Jamaica ; but it was only 
one amongst many disasters — hurricanes, conflagrations, pes- 
tilences, famines, and wars — which desolated the island at 
this period. The black population was now begin- 
ning to preponderate dangerously over the white ; insurrec- 
and the excessive rigour of the laws respecting 
negroes, called the Code Noir, and the tyranny of overseers 
on plantations where the masters were absent or inactive, 
often gave rise to formidable insurrections, which were mostly 
planned and carried into effect by the Coromantines, or war- 
like negroes of Ashantee, Fantee, or Akim origin, who, ac- 
cording to Ashantee custom, pledged themselves to fidelity 



442 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

and secrecy by the ceremony of what was called the Great 
Draught Oath, and by certain incantations, such as are 
described in Miss Edgeworth's tale of ' The Grateful Negro/ 
The danger to the colony from these outbreaks might have 
been lessened through the influence of the missionaries, but 
the planters were so jealous of their interference, and of any 
attempt to raise the negro above the condition of a working 
animal, that the local government generally contrived to 
hinder their work, and to elude the decrees of the British 
Legislature for their support. 

The first missionaries were Moravians, in 1754 ; then fol- 

Mrst * lowed Baptists and Wesley ans, who, amidst vexatious 

Mission- persecution, persevered in gathering their little flocks 

about them, and preaching to the poor slaves the 

Gospel message of mercy and brotherhood ; and one proof of 

their influence is the fact, that in a great slave-conspiracy in 

1760 to massacre all the whites in the island, in which almost 

every Coromantine in Jamaica was concerned, not one of the 

negroes belonging to their congregations took any part. 

But now, chiefly owing to the appeals of Mr. Wilberforce, 
seconded by such men as Thomas Clarkson, Richard Phillips, 
George Harrison, and William Allen — all of whom belonged to 
the Society of Friends — and Mr. Zachary Macaulay, Governor 
of Sierra Leone, the British public were becoming roused to 
a strong sense of the evil of slavery ; and measures were one 
by one adopted which led to the complete emancipation of 
the negro in 1834. First, in 1807, the slave- carrying trade 
was made illegal by Act of Parliament throughout the British 
dominions. Next, in 1811, the Felony Act was carried by 
Mr. Brougham, by which slave-trading was made a capital 
offence ; and from that time the traffic entirely ceased in the 
British colonies. But, to prevent slaves being smuggled in 
from foreign sources, a further provision was necessary, and 
consequently, in 1815, every negro in the West Indies was 
required to be registered. These measures, however, did not 
improve the condition of the slaves, who, being fewer in 
number, were worked the harder, and, from the now im- 
poverished state of the colony, were fed worse than formerly. 



NEGRO EMANCIPATION. 443 

A light, however, now began to dawn upon the negroes 
themselves, that deliverance was a possibility. The names 
of Wilberforce, Clarkson, Sturge, became their watchwords of 
hope ■ — England would set them free if it were not for the 
Jamaica Assembly. And in the expectation that British troops 
would second them, another insurrection broke out in 1831, 
under the leadership of an intelligent negro — one Sharpe — 
who, contented himself with his lot and attached to his master, 
seems as nobly to have sacrificed himself for freedom as any of 
the world's more renowned heroes. This outbreak, like all 
others, ended in the defeat of the b]acks — 1,500 of whom were 
hung and slaughtered in cold blood after the insurrection 
had been quelled, and Sharpe amongst the rest ; while such 
had been the mild and forgiving spirit of the negroes them- 
selves, that only about a dozen whites perished, although 
the whole county of Cornwall, with hundreds of defenceless 
families, at one time lay entirely at their mercy.* 

The year 1834 is memorable in our history as the one in 
which the great measure of Negro Emancipation was Negro 
finally carried, and by which all slaves were ' abso- p^ 1 ^ 01 " 
lutely and for ever manumitted ' throughout the 1834 - 
British colonies, and by which 20,000,000/., that is, 19Z. 
per head, was voted to the owners, in compensation for their 
* human chattels.' Absolute freedom, however, was not to be 
granted until six years afterwards, during which time the slaves 
were to be apprenticed labourers. 

Lord Mulgrave, then Governor of Jamaica, had the pleasure 
of making the tour of the island in the spring of 1834, and of 
announcing to assemblages of negroes in all parts, that on the 
1st of August next they would be free. And the Earl 
remarks, that the gratitude with which the tidings were re- 
ceived was mixed with an unexpected degree of intelligence 
with respect to the intermediate apprenticeship stage. To 

* To assist in putting down this insurrection of 1831, the British 
Government lent Jamaica 200,000/., which debt was repudiated in 1862, 
since the majority in the Jamaica House of Assembly then consisted of 
negroes and coloured men. 



444 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

the planters the prospect was by no means so welcome ; and 
they seem to have dreaded that the 1st of August would be a 
day of riot, rapine, and excess. But the way in which these 
poor negroes bore their joy, as they had hitherto borne their 
sufferings, may be a lesson to many a civilised Christian. 
On the eve of that day all the places of worship were thrown 
'open, excepting those belonging to the Established Church. 
Multitudes of slaves thronged in and fell upon their knees, 
and waited in breathless silence for the first stroke of the 
midnight bell. As soon as twelve sounded, all sprang to 
their feet — slaves no longer; and it is recorded that a loud 
and exultant hymn of praise rose up through the darkness to 
the Universal Father. 

In much the same way this great event was inaugurated 
in the other western colonies, and this peaceful beginning of 
a free life was followed by an equally peaceful line of conduct, 
which has continued on the part of the blacks from that time 
to this. No act of violence or flagrant treachery marked any 
disposition to avenge their cruel wrongs ; and perhaps the 
worst vices that can be charged to the negro, in his inde- 
pendent state, are idleness and vanity. 

The ' apprenticeship system ' being found unsatisfactory, 
the period of it was shortened, and in 1838 the Emancipation 
Act came into full operation. 

At the time of the emancipation there were 311,368 slaves 
in Jamaica, making nearly five-sixths of the adult population. 
As might be expected, many of these, when free, refused to 
work on any terms, and preferred t squatting' on the waste 
lands, and living on their own pumpkin patches ; while the 
ambition of a higher class was to save enough from their 
wages to buy freeholds of their own. The planters, on their 
side, did not meet their new position by offering fair wages or 
by improving their modes of cultivation ; and often the negro 
found that he could make more by working his own land 
than as a hired labourer. Thus the master and man being 
rival land -proprietors, the supply of labour on the large 
estates became precarious. 



EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION IN JAMAICA. 445 

Moreover, at the time of the abolition, the island was all 
but bankrupt, owing to the reckless extravagance of the 
planters — most of whom left their estates to the care of over- 
seers, while they themselves squandered away more than the 
proceeds in England, or elsewhere ; so that estates were 
deeply mortgaged to supply lavish expenditure. Since the 
abolition, the planter has been unable to produce sugar at so 
cheap a rate by means of hired labour; while, owing to 
Free Trade, the price of sugar has been kept down by the 
unequal competition of the slave-holding planters of Cuba and 
Porto Eico ; besides which, the increased importation of 
coffee from Ceylon has greatly interfered with the Jamaica 
coffee trade. From these and other causes, the island is at 
present in a depressed state. Half the sugar, and more than 
half the coffee plantations have returned to a state of bush ; 
and it remains to be seen whether the land, being rid of its 
moral curse of slavery, will regain its former wealth — either 
by better management, and better ways and means ; by com- 
petition forcing the black to work as it does the white labourer 
in our own country ; by the introduction of more sturdy 
labourers from other tropical climes, such as the Chinese, the 
coolies from Hindostan, or again the negro from West Africa ; 
or, as some have suggested, by a change in the very staple 
of the island, by giving up the cultivation of the sugar-cane, 
and confining its chief produce to coffee, cotton, mahogany, 
ginger, arrow-root, pimento, and such articles as its generous 
soil can produce almost without labour, or, at any rate, 
without slave-labour. 

There are, however, already signs of better times. Im- 
proved machinery, and better modes of cultivation and 
manufacture, are beginning to compensate for the deficiency 
of labour ; and there is evidence that those j>roprietors who 
pay fair wages have no difficulty in working their estates. 
In 1860 and 1861, two thousand coolies arrived in the island, 
and are now helping especially to revive the cotton-trade. 

Meanwhile, the benefit of emancipation to the negro is 
undoubted. < Many of them/ says the Kev. C. B. Underhill, 



446 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

one of a deputation to Jamaica, ' have become freeholders, on 
the average, of five acres each. They have built houses and 
mills, possess mules, and clothe and feed themselves better 
than ever they had done before.' Many coloured commu- 
nities support their own ministers, and provide for the educa- 
tion of their children ; many of both the coloured and negro 
race sit in the House of Assembly, and hold high offices ; 
many have become excellent artizans ; and it is found, as a 
rule, that in the common schools the mulatto children are as 
teachable as the white. These facts seem to answer the 
question whether freedom is a luxury that agrees with the 
negro constitution. Nevertheless, it is agreed that thriving 
habits, industry, and intelligence are more common to the 
half-caste than to the negro. 

In 1758 Jamaica was divided by the local government into 
three counties — Surrey, Middlesex, and Cornwall, which again 
are divided into parishes. 

Surrey is the eastern portion, and includes the whole 
region of the Blue Mountains, and part of the Plain 
of Liguanea, the most extensive plain in the island. 
Middlesex is the central portion, and includes the rest of this 
plain, and the grazing district of St. Ann's in the north, called 
the Park of Jamaica. Cornwall is the western portion, and 
comprises the Plains of Pedro and Savannah La Mar, and the 
hilly country lying north and between them. 

There are about thirty-three towns and villages, but only 

Chief two c ^ies — Spanish Town, the political capital, and 
Towns. Kingston, the emporium of commerce. 

Spanish Town, the oldest town in the island, is supposed 
to have been founded by Diego Columbus, the son of Chris- 
topher Columbus, in 1523, and was first called St. Jago de 
la Vega (St. James of the Plain). It occupies about a square 
mile, in the middle of a flat, in the parish of St. Catherine, 
Middlesex. The residence of the Governor (King's House), 
together with the House of Assembly and other official build- 
ings, gives an importance to the place ; otherwise, it is a 



JAMAICA. 447 

wretchedly-built town. The houses are ruinous 'and one- 
floored, and closely contiguous to crowded and squalid negro 
habitations ; the streets are unpaved and choked with refuse ; 
in the wet season they are coated with mud, and in the dry 
season they are unbearable from dust and the absence of shade ; 
while report says that the only scavengers are the carrion crows 
and vultures. There are no pumps in the town, and only 
three wells for the richer classes. There is no local trade. 

Thirteen miles from Spanish Town is the commercial capital, 
Kingston, in Surrey, built in 1693, after the destruction of Port 
Eoyal. The state of this town also is a disgrace to the country 
that owns it. The houses are mostly of wood, and are fast 
going to ruin ; there is neither pavement, drainage, gaslight, 
nor decent inns. There are, says Mr. Trollope, ' articles called 
omnibuses, but they do not run from any given point to any 
other, but meander about through the slush and sand, and 
are as difficult to catch as the mosquitoes.' The oniy pleasant 
feature is the negro-market, which supplies meat, fish, fruit, 
and vegetables, of the best that the island affords. One cause 
of the decline of Kingston is that it is no longer now, as in 
former days, the great mart for the productions of Europe on 
their way to South and Central America. Steam communi- 
cation is now so rapid, that merchants have no need of a half- 
way stopping place ; besides which, the harbour of St. Thomas 
is now generally preferred. But the old wholesale warehouses 
are giving place to retail shops, which are springing up fast to 
meet the demands of an increasing home trade. 

The chief harbour, Kingston Harbour, is formed by a long 
sand-bank called the Palisades, running out into the sea for 
about six miles ; at the end of which is Port Eoyal, the seat 
of England's naval supremacy for Jamaica and the neigh- 
bouring islands. Here lies our flag-ship, and a dockyard is 
maintained. 

One of the results of emancipation in Jamaica has been the 
negro, or free villages. To escape from the exactions Free 
of their former masters, who often offered the lowest Villages, 
wages, and demanded enormous rents for mud cabins and 



448 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

provision grounds, the more respectable class of negroes clubbed 
together, and out of their scanty earnings bought small lots of 
ground and laid them out as villages. Sometimes the resident 
missionary managed the purchase for them, and became the 
guardian of the community, and the names of these hamlets 
often show the grateful or religious sentiments of the occupiers ; 
for instance, Liberty, Happy, Salem, Bethany, and Standfast. 
Built on the slopes or summits of the hills, shaded by mangoes 
and bread-fruit trees, these neat little negro dwellings form a 
pleasant enough contrast to the kennels and pestilential holes 
which were too often the shelter of the slave. Almost every 
hamlet has its small chapel or class-room ; many have acquired 
the franchise ; many have small sugar-mills or pimento planta- 
tions, and all sorts of agricultural produce is cultivated for 
home use and the market. Sturge Town, founded by the late 
excellent Joseph Sturge of Birmingham, is said to be the best 
ordered of 'these settlements. 

Jamaica has a population of about 400,000. There has 
been an unusual mixture of races in the island. Of 

Inhabitants. .. 

the old Indian blood not a vestige is supposed to 
remain, and but a small tinge of the Spanish, except in the 
Maroons, a handsome people, resembling Spanish gipsies. The 
only unmixed races, besides, of course, the recent settlers, are 
the Creoles, or Criolles, so called from a corruption of a 
Spanish word, meaning native. The term is applied to those 
who are born in the West Indies of a race not indigenous to 
the islands. Thus, the white Creoles are born in the West 
Indies of European parents, and the black Creoles of West 
Indian negroes. But the union of blacks and whites have 
produced coloured races of almost endless gradations of shades, 
which, however, have been broadly classified thus : — Mulatto, 
the offspring of a white and a black : Quadroon, of a white 
and mulatto : Sambo, of a black and mulatto : Mestee, of a 
white and quadroon. The descendants of the Anglo-Saxon 
and the negro are about a fifth of the population. The pecu- 
liarities of other nations blend curiously with the African 
type ; for instance, black Jews are a common variety. The 



THE CAYMANAS. 449 

white Creoles are usually fair, slender, good-looking and 
indolent ; the coloured races are mostly tall, athletic, and 
handsome, with more of the European than the negro type. 
The negro's highest ambition is to appear like a white man, 
and the worst term of reproach is to be called ' African ' or 
' nigger/ 

The administration is composed of a Captain -General and 
Go vernor-in- Chief (salary, 5,000/.), of a Legislative £0^^. 
Council of seventeen, and a House of Assembly of ment > &c - 
forty-seven members, elected from the parishes and chief 
towns. All distinctions of creed and colour have been abolished, 
both in electors and representatives. Parliament sits at King- 
ston three months in the year. 

Since the abolition, Jamaica has needed but little military 
defence, and one European and one black regiment, with a 
small force of artillery, are sufficient. 

Jamaica was erected into a bishopric in 1824, and the 
diocese includes the Bahamas, Honduras, and Cayman. In- 
come, 3,000Z. Number of clergy, 108. Of other denomina- 
tions, the Wesleyans are the most numerous. Negroes attach 
themselves most to the Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman 
Catholic churches, and generally favour the worship which 
affords the most excitement. Most of the religious bodies 
have their own schools, besides which there are Government 
and endowed free- schools. 

Besides English money, Spanish gold doubloons are current, 
— old Mexican, 31. 6 s. ; Columbian, 31. As. Jamaica is an 
enormous expense to England, but its value as a market for 
our goods has increased since emancipation, because the mass 
of the people are now better clothed, and require more of 
British manufactures. 

THE CAYMANAS. 

About 130 miles north-west of Jamaica are three small 
islands, viz. Grand Cayman, Cayman Brae, and Little Cayman, 
the inhabitants of which are said to be descended from the. 

GG 



450 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

English buccaneers. The islands are dependencies of Jamaica, 
although the inhabitants make their own laws and choose 
their own governor. George Town is the capital. 



THE BAHAMAS. 

The Bahamas, or, as they were called by the natives, the 
Lucayos, are a chain of low islands, lying on two banks of 
sand and coral in 27° 31' N. lat., 79° 5' W. long., and extend 
diagonally for about 550 miles between East Florida and 
Hayti. They consist of countless rocks, islets or keys, and 
islands, of which twenty are inhabited, viz. : — 

New Providence Andros 

Harbour Island Grand Bahama 

Eleuthera Berry Island 

Bum Cay* Blmlnis 

Crooked Island Gun Cay 

St. Salvador Watling's Island 

Exuma Mariguana 

Long Island Green Cay 

Abaco Cay Sal 

Bagged Island Inagua. 

The islands were found uninhabited by the English in the 

beginning of the seventeenth century, all the gentle 

Settlement, Indian race that had welcomed Columbus having 

1629. 

been forced away by the Spaniards to the mines of 
Hayti or the pearl fisheries of Cumana. New Providence was 
first settled by the English in 1629, but, except as they served 
as a nest for pirates, none of the other islands were colonised 
until nearly a century afterwards. The islands changed 
owners many times, and passed into the possession of 
Spaniards, French, and English, but the whole group was 
finally confirmed to England at the Peace of Versailles, 1783. 
Seen from the sea, all the islands appear low, fiat, and 

* Cay, or hey, is a term applied to small sandy islets in the West 
Indies. 



THE BAHAMAS. 451 

green. In many parts they are very fertile, and even the 
most rocky islands are productive, owing to the porous nature 
of the stone, which retains the moisture. Mahogany-trees 
grow on the rocks to a great height and size. Taking the 
islands nearly in order from north to south, their chief charac- 
teristics are as follow : — 

Great Bahama : agricultural, growing chiefly maize. 

Abaco and Harbour Island : ship-building, wrecking, and 
fishing. 

Eleuthera : the principal fruit-growing island. 

New Providence ; contains Nassau, the capital of the 
Bahamas, and the seat of Government, and one of the best 
Government residences in the West Indies. 

Andros : the largest island, about a hundred miles long. 
Produces excellent cedars. It is only inhabited at the coast, 
since the swamps, jungle, and mosquitoes of the interior scare 
away all settlers. 

St. Salvador ; has good anchorage and two settlements. 
There is a mark on a rock showing the spot where Columbus 
is supposed to have planted the cross. 

Exuma : salt-raking, cotton-growing, and agriculture. 

Long Island : salt, sponges, turtles, and conch-shells. 

Crooked Island, Rum Cay, and Ragged Island : chiefly salt. 

Berry Isles ; the inhabitants are licensed by Government 
as wreckers and guides to vessels among the rocks and shoals. 
They have an allowance on property saved. 

Mariguana : the most eastward and windward of the group, 
and the most fertile. 

Inagua : the most southerly island. It has an enormous 
salt-pond of 1,600 acres, now worked by a company. 

By the census of 1857 the population of the group was 
27,519. The emancipated population appear to be Present 
especially well conducted, and it is reported that Condition. 
crime is fast diminishing through the good influence of the 
missionaries. At Nassau, negroes and former slaves, as well 
as mulattos, hold Government offices, and in this principal 
town less of the prejudice against the coloured race is shown 

GG 2 



452 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

than in the smaller islands. The Government consists of 
Governor, Council, and Eepresentative Assembly. 

The Bahamas belong to the diocese of Jamaica, and are 
divided into thirteen parishes, presided over by an arch- 
deacon. Besides those of the Church of England, there are 
Wesleyans, Baptist, and Presbyterian places of worship, with 
mostly schools attached. There are also public schools con- 
ducted on the system of the British and. Foreign Society, and 
Governor Gregory remarked on the eagerness of the freed 
negroes to have their children educated : — ' Many very young 
children,' he says, l walk four or five miles a day in almost 
every island, through rocks and rugged paths, to and from 
school.' Nassau has a museum, reading-room, and library, 
and several local newspapers. 

The principal trade is with the United States, and the chief 
staple is salt. Sponges, pine-apples and oranges, mahogany, 
dye-woods, and turtles are also exported. Cotton used to be 
much grown, and now its production is again occupying 
attention. There are nine colonial custom-houses and ports 
of entry, viz. Nassau, Abaco, and Eleuthera for fruit ; Har- 
bour Island, Little Exuma, Kum Cay, Long Island, and 
Ragged Island, for salt. 

The Turks and Caicos Islands were, in 1848, detached 
from the Bahama Government at the request of the in- 
habitants, and made a separate presidency under the Governor 
of Jamaica. Salt is the chief produce. 

THE LEEWARDS. 

The islands belonging to England of this northern portion 
of the Caribbean group are — Antigua, Barbuda, Dominica, 
Montserrat, Nevis, St. Kitts, Anguilla, part of the Virgin 
Isles, and the uninhabited rock of Redonda. These are all 
under one Governor-in-chief (salary, 3,000/.), who resides at 
Antigua ; and form one diocese, under the Bishop of Antigua : 
income, 2.000Z. ; clergy, 33 ; bishopric founded, 1842. Each 
island has, however, its own President, Council, and Repre- 
sentative Assembly. 



THE LEEWARDS. 453 

Antigua was discovered by Columbus in 1493, and was 
named by him after a. church in Seville, S. Maria la Antigua. 
It is about twenty-one miles long and nearly the same broad ; 
N. latitude, 19° ; W. longitude, 61 Q . The land is mostly level, 
but there are green valleys and gently- sloping hills in the 
interior, which resemble English scenery ; and its shores are 
rocky and deeply indented with creeks, which run into the 
plantations like canals. There are no rivers, and so few springs 
that the rain-water collected in tanks is the main supply. 

The island was first settled by a few English families 
in 1632, and Charles II. afterwards granted it to Lord 
Willoughby. In 1666, the tobacco plantations, which were 
then the chief produce, were laid waste by the French from 
Martinique, and all the negroes were carried away ; but by 
the Treaty of Breda, in the same year, it was recognised as a 
British possession, and again settled by the Governor of the 
Leewards, Colonel Codrington, who introduced the sugar-cane 
from Jamaica, and whose descendants still hold estates in the 
island. 

Antigua was the first of the colonies which of itself advo- 
cated abolition, and the only one where emancipation was at 
once adopted without any apprenticeship system. Here, also, 
the freed population thrive better, and their village commu- 
nities have made greater progress than in any other island. 
More than half the land in cultivation is occupied by sugar 
plantations ; the rest is provision ground.. Cotton used to be 
much grown, and its cultivation has now recommenced. The 
chief town is St. John, built on the side of a hill on the bay 
of St. John, which forms an excellent harbour. Exposed to 
the sea breezes on the north, the town is one of the most 
healthy in the West Indies. 

Barbuda is thirty miles north of Antigua, a low, flat, and 
fertile island, nineteen miles long, resting on a coral reef. It 
was first settled by some English from St. Kitts ; but they 
found a scarcity of water, and, being troubled by incursions 
from the Caribs, soon abandoned it. Afterwards, Colonel 



454 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

Codrington obtained a grant of the island for the sake of rais- 
ing stock upon it for the supply of the other islands, and his 
descendants still hold possession, on condition of presenting 
the Governor-in-chief with a fat sheep whenever he chooses to 
visit the place. A turtle or buck, we are told, has often been 
made to do duty for the sheep. Barbuda is the only island 
in the West Indies held as private property. The owner, Sir 
William Codrington, built the church, and supported the 
clergyman and the schools. The negroes were fully emanci- 
pated in 1834. No sugar is grown, but the population, mostly 
coloured, are employed in breeding cattle, pigs, poultry, and 
other stock, and in cultivating corn, cotton, indigo, pepper, and 
tobacco on the provision grounds. 

St. Chkistophee or St. Kitts. — Some writers say that 
Columbus gave his own name to this island. Another sup- 
position is that he called it St. Christopher from the shape of 
its mountains, which, rising one above another, bear some 
likeness to the statues of the Saint carrying the Saviour on 
his shoulders, which were common in the church-porches in 
his time. The Carib inhabitants called it Liamuiga, the 
Fertile Isle. It was probably the first island in the West 
Indies colonised by English — Sir Thomas Warner and four- 
teen others settling there in 1623, and cultivating tobacco. 
In 1625 the island was conjointly occupied by English and 
French, and became one of the head-quarters of the buc- 
caneers. After many disputes for its possession between 
Spaniards, French, and English, it was finally ceded to Eng- 
land at the Treaty of Versailles, 1783. 

A mass of rugged mountains forms the centre of the island, 
topped by a gloomy crag, Mount Misery, which raises its 
black summit almost perpendicularly from a height of 3,711 
feet, and overhangs an extinct volcano, at the bottom of the 
crater of which, more than 2,000 feet in depth, lies a level 
tract of fifty acres, partly lake, and partly grass and trees. 
From Mount Misery the land slopes to the sea on all sides, 
and most of the cultivated part is occupied by cane-planta- 



THE LEEWAEDS. 455 

tions. Towards the south is Monkey Hill, whose green slopes 
are infested by a small but unusually mischievous kind of 
monkeys, * which,' says Mr. Sturge, ' assemble in troops, and 
make sad havoc among the sugar-canes, but are too cunning 
to be shot, always placing a sentinel in advance, who sets up 
a terrible screeching on the approach of danger.' Much of 
the country resembles English village scenery, with cottages 
embowered in trees, whirling wind-mills, and sugar-works, 
and the pleasant foreign variety of aloe hedges, and groves of 
the sea- side grape. 

Basseterre, the capital, is a low, dusty town, with an active 
trade and a fortified harbour. Although the island suffers in 
consequence of the largest estates belonging to absentees, the 
few resident planters are doing well, and gaining fair profits 
for their sugar, by wisely economising labour by the intro- 
duction of agricultural improvements. St. Kitts is divided 
into nine parishes, and has several churches and chapels. 
Education is provided by the Episcopalians, Wesley ans, and 
Moravians. A Lieutenant-governor presides over the island 
(salary, 1,3001.). 

Separated from St. Kitts by a narrow channel is the sin- 
gular and beautiful island of Nevis, formed of a single conical 
mountain, with a strip of fertile land bordering it round the 
coast. The top of the mountain is contantly enveloped in 
clouds ; and, probably from their fleecy appearance, Columbus 
chose the name of Nievis, or the Snows. The sides are covered 
with sugar-plantations, and round the rocky summit, where 
cultivation ceases, there grows a forest of evergreen trees, 
which encircle the neck of the mountain like a collar. Sir 
Thomas Warner made here a first settlement of emigrants in 
1628, who grew tobacco and ginger; and, in spite of hurri- 
canes and French marauders from Martinique, the colony 
prospered, and sugar subsequently became the sole export. 
Charlestown is the capital. It has five parishes and five 
churches, and eleven public schools, besides seminaries be- 
longing to the Wesleyan mission. Sugar is on the increase, 



456 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

and the island thriving. Most of the labourers work on the 
metayer or share system, since the planters have had no capital 
to pay wages with. Nevis is presided over by an Adminis- 
trator (salary, 500Z.). 

Anguilla or Snake Island is the most northerly of the 
Caribbees. It is about twenty miles long, and so low and flat 
that it cannot be seen farther off than four or five leagues. It 
has no rivers, and only about two or three tenths of the 
surface is cultivated. It was first colonised by English in 
1650. There is no town. The island is a dependency of St. 
Kitts, and sends one member to its Assembly. It has one 
church, one Wesleyan chapel, and one school-house. The 
coloured population are of a superior class, and raise their 
own stock and provisions. 

Montserrat is about thirty miles north-west of Antigua, and 
was so called by Columbus from its likeness to a mountain of the 
same name, near Barcelona. It is about nine miles long, and as 
many broad. The interior is a mass of mountains covered 
with thick forests ; the shore is so beset with rocks and coral 
reefs that landing is difficult. About one-third is cultivated, 
chiefly with the sugar-cane. The island was settled first in 
1632 by a party of Irish Catholics from St. Kitts, and was 
confirmed to Great Britain at the close of the last French war. 
In the Blue Books of 1851, Montserrat was reported a most 
orderly community, the prison was without an inmate, and 
the only constable had been dismissed as an unnecessary 
expense. The arrival of some monied planters from Bar- 
bados, who paid wages punctually, had given such confidence 
to the negroes, that there were more applicants for work than 
could be employed, even at b^d. per day for hard labour, and 
the sugar works were thriving in consequence. The only 
town, Plymouth, is built of grey-stone, and stands in the midst 
of trees on the south-west side. It has three churches, a 
small Wesleyan Mission, and several public schools. The 
island is governed by a President (salary, 500Z.). 



THE LEEWAKDS. 457 

Between Nevis and Montserrat stands the uninhabited rock 
of Kedonda, named so by Columbus on account of its round 
form, which resembles a huge tower or haycock. 

Dominica is the most southerly of the Leewards, and is a 
mountainous island, about twenty-eight miles long. Colum- 
bus first caught sight of it on a Sunday morning, and hence 
its name. It was then so covered with forest, even to the tops 
of the highlands, nearly 6,000 feet, that scarcely a yard of bare 
ground was to be seen ; and Columbus endeavoured to give 
Queen Isabella an idea of its peculiar jagged appearance by 
crumpling up a sheet of paper in his hand. For many years 
the island was a sort of neutral ground, equally claimed by 
Spain, France, and England, but in 1759 a British force cap- 
tured it, and it was formally ceded to England at the Treaty 
of Paris, 1763. 

Seen from the sea, Dominica is the most picturesque of 
all the "West Indies. The country is curiously watered by a 
large fresh-water lake, which lies at the top of a mountain in 
the centre, said to be unfathomable, and which streams down 
to the plains below in three branches. The volcanic nature 
of the island still manifests itself in boiling springs and quarries 
of hot sand, and emissions of sulphureous vapours from the 
mountains. Most of the island is still wild bush-country, 
tenanted by monkeys, agouti, and boa- constrictors, which pay 
occasional visits to the poultry-yards ; while amongst the tall 
tree-ferns of the glens glitters the bright plumage of the 
humming-birds and parroquets. An enormous tree-frog, 
called crapaud — which Coleridge said ' was as large as ten fat 
toads ' — is found here, and is eaten by the inhabitants. 
Coffee is at the present time more cultivated than sugar. 
Excellent reports are given of the conduct and prosperity of 
the labourers, or freed blacks, many of whom are landed 
proprietors. The white population are chiefly French, and 
the common language is a French patois. 

Roseau, the chief town, is described as a wretched place- — 
its streets overgrown with grass, and without shops or any 



458 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

signs of active industry. The prevailing religion is Eoman 
Catholic, but there is one small Protestant church and a 
Wesleyan mission. A ' Board of Instruction ' was appointed 
in 1851. Dominica has a Lieutenant-Governor (salary, 1,300Z.) 
The majority of the representatives are men of colour. 
Several of the aboriginal Caribs are still remaining in this 
island, and maintain themselves by basket-making, hunting, 
and fishing. 

North-west of the Caribbees are a group of about fifty small 
islands, named by Columbus the Virgin Islands, in honour of 
St. Ursula and her Eleven Thousand. Most of them are 
British, viz. Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, Beef, Peter, 
Guana, Comanos, Ginger, Salt, Jost Van Dyke, and others of 
no importance : the rest belong to Denmark. Rugged moun- 
tain-heights, plains covered with guinea -grass, and coasts 
indented with many a bay and creek, are the prevailing 
natural features of the group. The Earl of Cumberland 
mentions them in 1596 as wholly uninhabited. Some Dutch 
buccaneers were the first settlers, in 1648; but they were 
expelled by the English, who succeeded in cultivating the 
craggy surface, and in raising sugar, cotton, indigo, and 
ginger. In Charles II. 's reign, Tortola and its dependencies 
were annexed to the Leeward Government. 

Tortola, the largest island, is about 12 miles long, and 
contains the highest mountain-peak — 1,758 feet ; and here is 
the chief town, Eoad Town, consisting of one large street. 
The islands are governed by an Administrator (salary, 800Z.) 
There are several churches and chapels, with schools attached. 
The production of sugar has diminished since the abolition, 
although the negroes are of an industrious and orderly class. 
Patches of cotton are grown all over the island. The soil is 
considered worn out for cultivation, but excellent pasture for 
cattle is found in the waste tracts, of which the freed blacks 
are the chief proprietors. 



BARBADOS. 459 



BARBADOS. 



Barbados is situated about eighty miles to the east of the. 
Windwards, in 13°19'N. lat., 59° 37' W. long., and is about 
21 miles long by 12 miles broad. It is the oldest of the 
British West India settlements, and has always been in 
British possession. The Portuguese are supposed to have 
been the first European visitors, and to have named the 
island Barbados, or bearded, from finding there abundance of 
a kind of fig-tree, with fibrous threads hanging down from 
its branches like beards. The crew of an English ship, the 
1 Olive Blossom,' touched at the island in 1605, and took 
possession in the name of King James I. ; at which time it 
was uninhabited, except by some pigs, which probably had 
been left there to breed and multiply by the Portuguese. 

The island seems to have been neglected until twenty years 
afterwards, when reports of its fertility induced James I. to 
make a grant of it to the Earl of Marlborough, under whose 
protection forty Englishmen and a few negroes were conveyed 
there, and made a settlement on the spot where the crew of 
the ' Olive ' had planted their cross. Unfortunately, however, 
the Government of Charles I. granted the island to another 
nobleman — the Earl of Carlisle ; and the contests between the 
rival claimants and their heirs hindered the prosperity of the 
colony, until Charles II. settled the question by taking the 
sovereignty into his own hands, upon the payment of a tax of 
4 J per cent, on all the native produce exported from the 
island. This heavy tax the Barbadians have only been 
relieved from in the present reign. 

Elat and unpicturesque in appearance, Barbados is the most 
thriving of any of the West India colonies, and, in proportion 
to its size, contains an unusual area of land under high culti- 
vation. Its black mould is especially suited to the sugar- 
cane, and consequently Barbados has always been prosperous 
as a sugar settlement ; and it was the first English West 
Indian colony where sugar was grown. In 1641 the only 



460 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

produce of the island was a little ginger and cotton, and very 
bad tobacco ; but some planters procured in that year some 
sugar-canes from Brazil, which throve so well that they set up 
a mill, and in less than twenty years from that time large 
fortunes were made by the sugar trade of Barbados ; and by 
1676 it had extended so far as to employ 400 ships. There 
is not a single rood of actual waste land in the island : 
hence there is no room for squatters, and the negroes 
are forced to work for their living. And since there is a 
large native population, labour is plentiful, sugar is made 
profitably, and, unlike the other colonies, Barbados pays 
its way. 

Bridgetown, the capital, built round Carlisle Bay on the 
south- west, is much like an inferior English town. The narrow 
and crooked streets meet in the centre in Trafalgar Square, 
where stands a statue of Nelson. It has good shops, libraries, 
and scientific societies ; many schools, churches, and chapels. 
The churches are all built without steeples, for fear of the 
hurricanes, which have occasionally visited the island with 
tremendous violence. 

Barbados has been remarkable, since its first settlement, for 
the rapid increase of its population. Since emancipation, this 
increase has been chiefly on the side of the coloured popula- 
tion, who are, as a mass, industrious and thriving ; but there 
is a large indigent population of whites, who form the pauper 
class, who in times of slavery were brought up in idleness on 
the former estates, and who are now apparently unfit for any 
occupation but breeding pigs and poultry. The population is 
very dense, and numbers about 150,000. The negroes, who 
live an easier and more independent life than most English 
labourers, are more intelligent, but less good-tempered and 
of heavier build, than those of other colonies. The white 
Creoles are larger and fairer than other West Indians. The 
government consists of the Governor and- Commander-in-Chief 
(salary, 4,000Z.) ; of a Council of 12, appointed by the Crown ; 
and an Assembly of 22, annually elected by the eleven 
parishes ; and, since no negroes have freeholds in Barbados, 
the electors and members are all whites. 



THE WINDWARDS. 461 

A bishopric of Barbados was established in 1824, including 
the Windward Islands, Tobago and Trinidad — income, 
2,500Z. ; clergy, 89. The chief educational establishment is 
Codrington College, founded in 1810 by the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel, by means of the income from two 
plantations bequeathed by Colonel Codrington, and yielding 
2,000Z. per annum. The first regular newspaper in the 
Caribbees was issued at Barbados in 1731. 



THE WINDWARDS. 

The islands belonging to Great Britain of the Windward 
portion of the Caribbees are : St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and 
Grenada. The respective governments of these islands and 
of Tobago are subordinate to the Government of Barbados. 

St. Lucia is an island about thirty miles long, and about 
seventy miles north-west of Barbados. It is an unhealthy 
island, swampy, and abounding with venomous reptiles, 
although with much beautiful scenery of mountain and vale, 
and excellent as a sugar-growing country. The French are 
supposed to have first seen it and named it after Sante 
Alouisa, but for many years both French and English found 
it impossible to wrest the island from its Carib proprietors, 
until in 1650 a powerful French adventurer, named Rousselau, 
married a Carib woman, and so gained their favour that they 
allowed him to make a settlement. After that date the island 
was taken and retaken by the English and French no less 
than eleven times, until finally Lord Hood captured it in 
1804. It is, however, still chiefly French in its language, 
manners, and religion. 

St. Lucia is divided into five districts, and its chief town, 
Castries, stands in a plain surrounded by hills, and partly 
below the level of the sea. The English church is built in 
the middle of a swamp, as if, it has been said, ' for the express 
purpose of checking the growth of Protestantism in St. Lucia/ 



462 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

while the substantial Catholic church stands in a square sur- 
rounded by trees. St. Lucia has no Representative Assembly, 
the government is vested in an Administrator (salary, 700Z.), 
whose residence, a sort of wooden pavilion, stands magnificently 
situated on the edge of a cliff. He is aided by a Legislative 
Council. Many of the freed negroes are small landed pro- 
prietors, as well as labourers in the cane-fields ; and the metayer 
system is here on the increase. 

About twenty-two miles south of St. Lucia is the beautiful 
and healthy island of St. Vincent. It is nearly twenty miles 
long ; its coast is bold and rocky, and its centre formed of a 
mountain ridge, of which the highest point, the Souffriere 
mountain, 3,000 feet, is an active volcano, with a crater half 
a mile in diameter, from the centre of which rises a conical 
hill of 300 feet. The last eruption took place in 1812, after 
a repose of nearly a century. 

The history of the settlement of St. Vincent is much the 
same as that of St. Lucia ; the powerful Carib inhabitants for 
many years holding their own against both French and English, 
so that it was to little purpose that Charles I. included this 
island in his grant to Lord Carlisle. At the end of the 
seventeenth century a slave-ship from Guinea ran ashore at 
the place, and the negroes escaping, settled and intermarried 
among the aborigines, and hence two races came to occupy 
the land — the red or yellow, and the black Caribs. In 1715, 
some French from Martinique made a forcible settlement, and 
the blacks in the island so much feared that their race should 
be confounded with that of the slaves introduced by the 
planters, that they adopted the Carib fashion of flattening the 
skulls of their infants, as a token of their free birth. After 
being taken by the English in 1763, and retaken by the 
French, St. Vincent was finally ceded to Britain at the peace 
of 1783, and almost all the Caribs, red and black, were 
transported to the island of Eattan, in the Bay of Honduras, 
since they had been incited to rebellion by the French 
planters. 



THE WINDWARDS. 463 

St. Vincent is divided into five parishes. Kingstown is the 
capital. The administration is vested in a Lieutenant-governor, 
(salary, 1,300Z.) There are churches and chapels of various 
Christian denominations, and several schools. The free 
negro villages, which are numerous, are described as in good 
condition, houses neat and clean, gardens fruitful, men, women 
and children well dressed. Sugar, arrow-root, and cotton 
are cultivated, and the exports include cocoa-nuts and poz- 
zualano, a kind of manure, valuable also as a cement. 

South of St. Vincent are a pretty cluster of islands, about 
nine in number, called the Grenadines, of which Becquia and 
Cariacou are the principal. The more southerly of the islands, 
Cariacou and Eeclonda, belong to the Government of Grenada ; 
the more northerly are dependencies of St. Vincent. Coffee 
is the chief produce ; sugar is less successful. On the sea- 
shores of many of the islands grows luxuriantly the deadly 
upas-tree, whose sap, fruit, leaves, and touch are poison, and 
whose shade even is noxious. 

Grenada, the most southerly of the Windwards, is a healthy, 
fertile, and very beautiful island, of about twenty- four miles 
in length. It was discovered and named by Columbus in 1498. 
It has a soft Italian climate, and its fruits — mangoes, pine- 
apples, and oranges — are of the finest kind. Du Parquet, 
governor of Martinique, bought the island from its native Carib 
chief in 1650, in exchange for some knives and hatchets and 
glass beads, and two bottles of brandy for the chief himself. 
Within eight months of their occupation the French had, by order 
of Du Parquet, murdered every Carib in the place ; and returned 
from the massacre — their historian, Du Tertre, relates — l bien 
joyeux.' Grenada became ours at the Treaty of Paris, 1763, 
when all the French Caribbean islands were transferred to 
England. It was again taken by the French during the 
American war, and again ceded to England at the Treaty of 
Versailles, 1783. The settlement prospered but little at first, 
owing to the disputes between the French Catholics and English 



464 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

Protestants; the British Government having broken faith 
with the French settlers, and withdrawn the toleration which 
had been promised. The negroes, stimulated by the French 
revolutionists of the day, took part in these disputes, and the 
island became the scene of frightful insurrection and blood- 
shed. 

But the greatest destruction to property was caused by a 
plague of sugar-ants, which suddenly made their appearance 
in 1770, and destroyed in succession every plantation within 
a space of twelve miles. The ' roads were covered with their 
red bodies for miles together, and so thickly in many places, 
that the print .of a horse's feet, in riding through them, would 
appear only for a moment or two, until filled up by the sur- 
rounding multitudes.' The Assembly offered a reward of 
20,000/. for their destruction, but poison, fire, and all means 
failed, until in 1780 a tremendous hurricane uprooted their 
nests and swamped their broods, and so stayed the plague. 

Slavery is reported to have been of an unusually mild 
character in Grenada. Of late years, the colony has been 
recovering from the depression consequent at first on emanci- 
pation ; the trade is on a firmer basis, and the sugar produce 
has yearly increased. The chief produce is sugar and cocoa. 
St. Georges, the capital, is a good English-looking town, with 
busy shops and market-place, although the streets are built up 
and down such steep hills that it is hardly safe for any wheeled 
vehicle to go along them. Grenada is divided into six parishes. 
The churches and schools of the Church of England outnumber 
those of other denominations. Grenada has a Lieutenant- 
Governor (salary, 1,300/.) 



TOBAGO. 



Tobago, the most southerly of the Caribbees, is about 
thirty-two miles in length by twelve broad, and lies to the 
south-east of Grenada sixty miles. It is supposed to be the 



TOBAGO. 465 

same island that Columbus called Assumption, but it gained 
its present name from the habit common among the native 
Caribs of smoking rolls of the herb ' kohiba,' in a pipe called 
' a tabacca ; ' a practice first seen by Columbus at Cuba. 
Tobago has been called also i the Melancholy Isle,' from the 
sombre aspect of its gloomy mountains and dense forests when 
seen from the north. Only the lower grounds and a few 
patches on the hills are cultivated, and here its black mould 
is especially adapted to the sugar-cane. Although the climate 
has improved with the clearance of waste lands, the extreme 
heat, acting on the marshy soil, renders it so unhealthy, that 
for a series of years the mortality amongst the white troops 
was double that of any other of the West Indies. 

The early history of the island is obscure. At one time, 
the native Caribs appear to have been driven away by a more 
powerful race from the mainland ; and the description of the 
island when found in its deserted state is said to have suggested 
to De Foe his ' Eobinson Crusoe.' The various steps of its 
European settlement appear to have been similar to those 
which marked the settlement of the neighbouring isles, namely, 
long resistance from the Caribs, alternate possession by French 
and English, and final cession to England in 1814. The red 
ants which infested Grenada in 1775 appeared at the same 
time in Tobago, and so laid waste the sugar-lands that the 
cultivation of cotton was generally adopted for a time instead of 
sugar. Cotton and cocoa-nuts, and other articles besides the 
staple of sugar, are now being added to the exports. Steam- 
engines have been introduced on the sugar- estates, and the 
island is recovering from its financial embarrassments ; besides 
which, the free labourers are fast clearing the forest lands, 
making settlements on the coast, and extending cultivation 
into the interior, although still two-thirds of the island are 
covered with primitive forest. 

The chief town is Scarborough. There are nine parishes, 
and several Church-of-England, Wesleyan, and Moravian 
congregations. Public education has been neglected on the 
ground of expense, but the Moravians have formed industrial 

H H 



466 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

schools, -where the pupils cultivate each their own small plots 
of land. A Lieutenant-Governor administers the affairs of 
Tobago (salary, 1,300/.), aided by a Legislative Council and 
House of Assembly. 



TRINIDAD. 



Trinidad, the southernmost of the West Indies, lies across 
the delta of the Orinoco, nine miles distant at the nearest 
point from the coast of South America. It is shaped like a 
stretched ox-hide, and is of an average length of fifty miles. 
On the west side two horns reach towards the mainland of 
Venezuela, and form an enclosed sea called the Gulf of Paria. 
Steering into this gulf, Columbus for the first time beheld the 
great South American continent ; but the low tract of coast 
was so bounded by the Orinoco, that he imagined it to be 
merely another small island, although he could not account 
for the fresh taste of the water in the gulf, caused by the 
many streams emptying into it. He entered by the south 
strait, and called it, from its dangerous appearance, Boca del 
Sierpe (Serpent's Mouth) ; but, on approaching the strait on 
the north, that passage seemed so much more alarming, from 
its many rocks and strong eastern currents, that he dared not 
venture through it, and named it Boca del Dragon. Never- 
theless, the ordinary entrance is now through this Dragon's 
Mouth, which is again divided into four other mouths by 
three small islands which lie across the strait. Columbus 
dedicated the island itself to the Trinity, in fulfilment of a vow 
he had made when in great distress for water ; and it is men- 
tioned as a curious coincidence, that the first land he caught 
sight of after making the vow was this trio of islands at the 
northern strait, which rear aloft their three mountain summits, 
the highest in Trinidad. 

The aborigines appear to have been of the peaceful race of 
the Leeward islanders, with, Humboldt supposes, a small 



TRINIDAD. 467 

mixture of Caribs. The Spaniards, who long used the place 
merely as a station for wood and water, were in the habit of 
carrying off its inhabitants as slaves to their other colonies, 
and in 1532 established themselves in the island, and enslaved 
and exterminated the natives i for the extension of the Holy 
Faith.' In 1595 Sir Walter Ealeigh became the temporary 
deliverer of the persecuted natives. He burnt a Spanish town, 
and set many captives free, and among the rest five miserable 
caciques, who had been tortured and nearly starved, and whom 
he found bound together by one chain. The Spaniards held 
possession until the end of the last century, although, owing 
to a large immigration of French, the colony had become 
French rather than Spanish in its character ; but in 1797 the 
island yielded to a British fleet of ten vessels under Sir Ealph 
Abercrombie. 

Although now an English settlement, its French character 
still prevails. The dominant religion is Catholic, and the 
common language is a French patois. Port of Spain, the 
capital, on the west coast, and which is approached by one of 
the northern entrances of the Dragon's Mouth, called Boca di 
Mona (Monkey's Mouth), is a large and promising town, with a 
commercial activity about it unusual in the West Indies. The 
country around is very beautiful, composed of rocky cliffs 
clothed to the top with forest trees, open glades, and shady 
grassy nooks ; while more inland the savannahs (or plains 
covered with fox-tailed grass and dwarf trees) remain still in 
all their wild beauty. Owing to the want of roads, a large 
portion of the island is still but little known, and only com- 
paratively a small part is cultivated, although the soil is so 
prolific that in the days of slavery there were cotton-plantations 
up to the very hill-tops. Tfhe first sugar-plantation was made 
in 1787. Trinidad has a very small native population, and of 
late years the introduction of foreign labourers, chiefly coolies 
from Hindostan, to the number of 8,000, has so helped the 
sugar manufacture, that Trinidad is said from this cause to 
have escaped the distress of Jamaica and other colonies where 
such immigration has been resisted ; especially as the Hindoos 

H H 2 



468 WEST INDIAN COLONIES. 

thrive well there, and are better paid, fed, and clothed than 
in their own country. Arrow-root, cocoa-nuts, hides, &c. are 
now being added to the exports ; and a recent survey of the 
island has shown the existence of coal in large quantities. 

Trinidad is a Crown colony. It has no Eepresentative 
Assembly, but the Governor is assisted by a Council nominated 
by the Crown. The Governor's salary is 3,500Z. The island 
is divided into eight districts, which are under the superin- 
tendence of magistrates. 



469 



CHAPTEE VI. 

SETTLEMENTS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA. 
BRITISH HONDURAS. 

The only English possessions in Central America are British 
Honduras or Belize, and the Bay Islands. 

British Honduras is a tract about two hundred miles long, 
and one hundred miles broad, on the eastern coast of the 
Caribbean Sea, the limits of which have not been precisely 
determined. Low and marshy towards the shore, the country 
rises inland into bold highlands, covered with splendid forests 
of mahogany -trees and cedars. Columbus first saw the land 
in 1502. Its inhabitants, described as finely formed and 
pleasant in manners, were worked to death by the Spaniards 
in their native mines, and almost exterminated. The 
Spaniards and English long disputed for the possession of this 
territory, but the English were favoured by the Mosquito 
nation, and at the Treaty of Versailles, 1783, the British 
claim was recognised by European powers, and the place 
constituted a dependency of Jamaica. 

It was chiefly for its mahogany and log-wood trees that 
Honduras was coveted by Europeans. Mahogany had been 
first brought from Trinidad and Jamaica ; and the first men- 
tion made of the wood is that Sir Walter Ealeigh repaired 
some of his ships with it in 1579. At the beginning of the 
last century a West Indian captain of a vessel brought home 
some mahogany planks as ballast, and sent them to his brother 
in London, Dr. Gibbon, to use in the building of his house. 
The doctor sent the wood to a joiner to make into doors, but 
the joiner found the grain so hard that it spoilt his tools, and he 
rejected it as useless. A small piece was, however, afterwards 



470 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. 

made into a coal-box, which, when finished and polished, out- 
shone all the doctor's other furniture, and the Duchess of 
Buckingham, admiring its fine grain, requested of Dr. Gibbon 
a piece of the wood sufficient to make into a bureau. From 
that time mahogany furniture became fashionable in England. 

The mahogany-tree is of immense size, and is supposed to 
require two hundred years to attain its full growth. The 
largest log known to have been cut in Honduras was seventeen 
feet long ; * and for many years the quantity exported has 
amounted to five or six million feet. The best mahogany is 
from Jamaica, but the supply there is now nearly exhausted. 
The log-wood, used both as an ornamental wood and for the 
deep red dye which it yields, is a low, crooked, prickly tree, 
which thrives best in low swampy ground. The cutting of 
mahogany and log-wood employs nearly all the labour in the 
district. Agriculture is entirely neglected, and the plough is 
never used. As soon as the land is exhausted by crop after 
crop of maize, yams, and plantains, the spot is abandoned, and 
a fresh clearance is made in the forest. 

Besides the two staples of mahogany and logwood, the 
exports consist of tortoise-shells, indigo, fustic, cochineal, and 
sarsaparilla. 

Honduras is rather a protectorate than a British colony, and 
is maintained principally in order to uphold some degree of 
British influence in Central America. The hot, moist, and 
fever-producing climate is unsuited to Europeans ; there are, 
consequently, very few English residents among the 200,000 
inhabitants, and those few are nearly all employed in superin- 
tending the trade in mahogany, log-wood, and cocoa-nuts. 

* Messrs. Broadwood, the piano-forte makers, are stated to have given 
3,000£. for three logs of mahogany, the produce of a single tree; they 
were each about thirteen feet long by thirty-eight inches square, and were 
cut into veneers of eight to an inch. The grain of this tree was par- 
ticularly beautiful. When highly polished it reflected the light like the 
surface of a crystal, and from the wavy form of the pores presented a 
different figure in whatever direction it was viewed. — Martin's British 
Colonies. 



BEITISH HONDUKAS. 471 

The Honduras negroes are little inferior in intelligence to 
the whites; and there is a race here, who seem to be a cross 
between the negro and the Indian, remarkable for their fine 
muscular forms. A few of the aborigines still remain, and 
are a quiet, harmless people. 

The capital, Belize, is on the river Belize, and was founded 
in 1638 by an English buccaneer named Willis, who settled 
on the banks, and gave his name to both town and river, Willis 
becoming changed by the Spaniards into Belize or Balise. 
The river divides the town into two portions, which are con- 
nected by a bridge. The houses are mostly made of wood, 
and stand raised from the ground on pillars of mahogany. 

The English Superintendent (salary, 1,800Z.) is subordinate 
to the Governor of Jamaica, and is assisted by a Council and 
Eepresentative Assembly. The territory is included in the 
diocese of Jamaica ; and besides the Church of England esta- 
blishment there are several Wesleyan and Baptist chapels. 

The Mosquito Territory, on the coast of the Caribbean 
Sea, to the east of British Honduras, is an independent state, 
under the protection of England. It is peopled by the 
descendants of the aboriginal Indians, who have maintained - 
their independence since the downfall of Montezuma, and 
who, in their dread and aversion to Spain, volunteered in 
1687 allegiance to the British Crown in return for British 
protection. The country is governed by an Indian chief, styled 
the King of the Mosquitos, aided by an English Consul- 
General, who resides at the capital, Grey-town ; and this State 
affords the only instance in America of a regularly-organised 
constitution among the aborigines. The kings, who are here- 
ditary, usually adopt English names. For instance, in February 
1840, E. C. Frederick, king of the Mosquitos, made his will at 
Belize, and devised that in case of his death during the minority 
of his heir, English commissioners should form a regency, and 
should cause his royal children, Princes George, William, 
Clarence, and Alexander, and Princesses Agnes and Victoria, 
to be educated in the doctrine of the Church of England. 



472 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. 

The Bay Islands, Buatan, Bonacea, Utila, and other islets 
in the eastern part of the Gulf of Honduras, have been for the 
last hundred years in the occupation of England, and are now 
chiefly peopled by emigrants from the Caymans, an industrious, 
strong, well-conducted race, although mostly descended from 
the old buccaneers and African women. They cultivate the 
Bay Islands to good purpose, exporting to the mainland cocoa- 
nut oil and fruit in exchange for necessaries. At their own 
request the islands now form a dependency of British Hon- 
duras. Their Legislative Assembly is convened and prorogued 
by and subject to the guidance of the Honduras Superintend- 
ent, while a magistrate from England manages their local 
affairs. 



BRITISH GUIANA. 

Early Dutch settlers gave the name of Guiana, or the ' Wild 
Coast,' to that part of the South American Main which lies 
between the Amazon and Orinoco rivers. Many nations now 
divide this region between them : the north-west portion, 
Spanish Guayana, belongs to the republic of Venezuela ; the 
south-west portion, Portuguese Guianna, to the Emperor of 
Brazil ; and between these two large divisions lie the three 
small colonies of British Guiana, Dutch Guiana, or Surinam, 
and French Guiana, or Cayenne. 

British Guiana is the only English settlement in South 
America. It is a tract extending about 200 miles east and 
west on the North Atlantic coast, on the north side of the 
continent, and includes the three settlements or counties of 
Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo, named after the three 
great rivers that water the land, and which indeed have formed 
it, since it is composed entirely of the mud brought down from 
the upland countries by these mighty streams, deposited in an 
enormous flat of boundless fertility. The colony is divided 
from Dutch Guiana on the east by the river Corentyn, and 
from Venezuela on the west by the Essequibo. Its extent 



BRITISH GUIANA. 473 

into the interior is not very well defined, and seems to be open 
to any owner who may choose to cultivate it. 

Sir Walter Ealeigh described the primitive inhabitants as a 
bold and hardy race, who escaped from the overflowing of the 
river in the rainy season by making their huts in the trees. 
To convert these people to the Catholic religion seems to have 
been the object of the first European visitors, some Jesuit mis- 
sionaries, who stayed several years, preaching amongst them, 
until they were expelled by the Dutch in 1579. The Dutch 
occupied the land for two hundred years, cultivated sugar, 
indigo, and cocoa, formed the present settlement, and introduced 
the slave system. But the Dutch having taken part with the 
Americans in the War of Independence, the British admiral, 
Lord Eodney, seized upon their settlement in 1780 ; and 
although it was again restored, it became finally a British 
possession in 1803. 

There are two towns in Guiana, George Town, the capital 
and seat of Government, on the right bank of the Demerara, 
and New Amsterdam, in Berbice. In both, the streets are 
intersected by canals, and the houses built of wood in the 
Dutch fashion, each with its verandahs and garden round it, 
and mostly raised from the ground on supports, to escape the 
damp. As is generally the plan in the West Indies, the 
houses have no halls, but the outer door leads direct into some 
sitting-room. Sometimes even there are no outer doors, but 
all entrance is by the windows ; and all the sitting-rooms in 
George Town open into each other, so that whatever wind 
there is may blow through the whole house. 

Owing to extensive clearing and drainage, this hot and 
marshy region is now as healthy as any other in the tropics ; 
and so rich is the soil and so thriving the trade, that Guiana 
may be reckoned one of the most prosperous of our western 
colonies in a commercial sense. In the country districts are 
found the wretched huts of the few remaining Indians, and 
the free negro villages show little evidence of industry in the 
black population ; for although they purchased their freeholds 
so rapidly and readily that ' the dollars had to be taken to the 



474 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. 

bank in wheelbarrows/ their houses are built with no regard 
to order, and with scarcely a path to any of them ; and since 
negroes have little idea of working for the common good, the 
land about them is undrained, and each little estate stands in 
its own swamp, where the negro children crawl about in the 
mud. But here, as in Trinidad, coolies have been brought in 
to do the work which the negroes refuse ; and partly owing 
to this and the better machines and management of the planters, 
Guiana now produces more sugar (and consequently rum 
and molasses) than any of the neighbouring British colonies ; 
that is, it exports annually 70,000 hogsheads, each hogshead 
containing a ton of sugar,* while Barbados exports about 
50,000, Trinidad and Jamaica less than 40,000, and the other 
colonies under 15,000. There seems, indeed, scarcely a limit 
to the sugar-producing power of the colony, if only labourers 
can be supplied ; for although at present sugar-plantations are 
confined to a comparatively small portion on the coast, back- 
wards, up to the very Andes, the owner is free to clear the 
forest and cultivate the canes. With the Governor it rests to 
regulate the immigration of foreign labourers, and Chinamen 
have lately been introduced, in addition to the coolies and 
Africans, who have obtained great favour with the planters. 

The Constitution was framed by the Dutch, and consists of 
a Governor (salary, 5,000Z.), a Court of Policy, and a Chamber 
of Financial Eepresentatives. In 1827 the three provinces 
were divided into seventeen parishes, and in 1842 the colony 
was erected into a bishopric : income, 2,000Z. ; clergy, 33. 
In 1851 there were 112 churches and chapels, those of the 
Establishment greatly predominating ; of other sects, Hindoos 
and Mohammedans form a large proportion. About 3,000 
of the native Indians were receiving religious instruction at 
the various missions; and the Bishop of Guiana describes 
them as < a painfully interesting race, desirous of Christian 
instruction.' 

* In Demerara an acre of canes yields on an average "one ton and a 
half of sugar, there being about two crops in three years. 



FALKLAND ISLES. 475 



FALKLAND ISLES. 

In the South Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles north-east 
of Terra del Fuego, England possesses a group of singular 
islands, which nevertheless, at this distance of 7,000 miles^ 
may in some respects be regarded as sister isles in miniature. 
They consist of two principal islands, with many surrounding 
islets. They lie in nearly the same latitude as England, in 
the opposite hemisphere, viz. between 51° and 53° S. latitude. 
Their climate, although more equable, is similar to that of 
England ; but there is no further likeness. In the Falklands 
there are but few rivers and no trees. Black bog and moor- 
land, intersected by streamlets and pools of yellowish -brown 
water, chiefly compose the surface, and low bushes and coarse 
gigantic sedges and grasses are the most important vegetation. 
No wheat will thrive there. There are no aborigines, and 
only one native quadruped, the wolf-fox, a species only found 
in these islands. 

With regard to their primeval origin, Dr. Darwin, who was 
present at the first survey of these islands, declares that not 
even in the Cordilleras of the Andes had he seen such evident 
signs of violent subterranean convulsion. In East Falkland 
there are what are called i streams of stones,' some of them a 
mile wide, composed of angular blocks of quartz, sloping down 
the hill- sides, or apparently flowing through the plains ; 
supposed either to have been hurled from the rocks down the 
nearest slopes, or to have been shattered in their original position 
by some prodigious vibratory motion which has shaken them 
into these continuous levels. One fragment of many tons' 
weight lies on its convex or upper surface on the summit of a 
mountain, as if it had been pitched into the air and then 
turned over. 

The islands were first seen by an Englishman, Dr. John 
Davis, who went out with Cavendish in 1592 ; but no claim 
was made to them until 1764, when Commodore Byron hoisted 
there the British flag, and two years later a small settlement 



476 POSSESSIONS IN AMERICA. 

was made at Port Egmont. This claim was disputed by 
Spain, and the English were for a time expelled ; and also an 
attempt was made by the Argentine Eepublic of Buenos Ayres 
to obtain possession ; but in 1833 the place was finally 
captured by a British force. The islands were for a long 
time of such doubtful value, except as a station for whale- 
fishers, that more than once they were abandoned. 

But meanwhile a few settlers which the French had left 
behind them in 1764 were in their own way improving the 
land and creating in it a source of future wealth and trade. 
These settlers were some tame cattle and horses, which when 
left to themselves so luxuriated in the rich grassy pastures and 
unbounded freedom, that they multiplied rapidly into wild 
herds, which overspread the country ; the cattle becoming 
magnificent beasts, with necks and heads like those in ancient 
sculpture, and ferociously asserting their right as first occu- 
piers by attacking any man whom they encountered un- 
mounted. The present herds are estimated at 80,000 head, 
and consist of nearly an equal number of bulls and cows. 
The horses have also become wild troops, and for no visible 
reason keep themselves to the north of the island ; but, unlike 
the cattle, they have degenerated in size and breed, although 
they are no less dangerous to encounter, since they fight in a 
body, and attack with their teeth and fore feet. Wherever 
these animals have pastured, the brown peat of the moor 
has given place to green meadow grass, and the soil has been 
rendered fit for cultivation. 

At the beginning of the present century the increase of the 
commerce round Cape Horn, and also of the whale-fishery in 
the antarctic seas, made the Falklands assume more import- 
ance as a provision station, stocked as they now were with 
cattle, hogs, sheep, and goats, besides their native fish and 
game. Accordingly, the English re-settled there in 1817, and 
in 1842, a Governor was sent out, and a regular colony 
formed ; and a Falkland Islands Company has been organised, 
having for its object to tame and capture the wild cattle and 
turn them to profitable account. The inhabitants, who in 



FALKLAND ISLES. 477 

1860 numbered about 1,000, are chiefly British colonists from 
Buenos Ayres, and are confined to East Falkland, an island 
100 miles long. West Falkland is still uninhabitable. For 
this small population a Government establishment is provided 
at an annual cost which was estimated in 1850 at 2,550/., 
besides a chaplain at 400Z. per annum, who ministered to 
about forty persons in a school-room, and a schoolmaster at 
50/. who had twenty- eight pupils. The present Governor's 
salary is 900/. 

Some idea has been entertained of converting the Falklands 
into a penal settlement, for which the cheapness of pro- 
visions, especially meat, and the difficulty of escape, would 
seem to adapt them. Meanwhile, they are increasing in value 
as a naval re-fitting station and port of refuge. The exports 
are chiefly hides, hair, seal-skins, oil, and whalebone. 



478 



PART VII. 
POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 



The British possessions in Austral, or Eastern Asia, comprise 
a territory nearly as large as Europe, and consist of the 
islands of Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, the Aucklands, 
Norfolk, and other lesser islands. 



CHAPTER I. 



AUSTKALIA. 



Australia, or New Holland, is the largest island in the 
world, or rather it forms the sixth of the great continents of 
the globe. Its greatest length, from Cape Byron on the east 
to Steep Point on the west, is 2,227 miles ; its greatest breadth, 
from Cape York on the north to Cape Wilson on the south, is 
1,680 miles. 

In its configuration the island appears to show the action of 
N t l the great seas which surround it. The tremendous 
Features, effect of the unbroken swell of the ocean from the 
south pole exhibits itself in the deep concave or bight of the 
south coast, except where it is protected by Van Dieman's 
Land ; while the mighty roll of the Indian Ocean causes a 
corresponding slope on the north-west : the direction of the 
north-east coast shows the sweep of the Pacific from the 
American continent, and on the north the unequal action of 
the monsoons has been still more broken by the Asiatic 
islands. 



SURFACE OF AUSTRALIA. 479 

So far as it is yet known, the geological structure of Australia 
is strikingly uniform, the whole interior appearing to be of 
tertiary formation. The mountain ranges of the coast belong 
to the primary and paleozoic series, and all have a general 
incline north and south. It was the close similarity between 
the structure and direction of these mountains and those of 
the Ural Mountains inEussia that led Sir Eoderick Murchison, 
in 1845, to predict that they would prove to be gold-yielding, 
six years before any deposit of the precious metal had been 
found. New Guinea and Tasmania are so perfectly similar in 
structure to Australia, that they are considered to be detached 
portions of the continent. Thus the chief mountain range of 
Australia, the Australian Alps, traverses the east coast from 
north to south, and thence is continued by a chain of moun- 
tainous islands across Bass's Strait to Cape Portland in Tas- 
mania, dividing the drainage of both countries into eastern 
and western rivers ; while a connecting link between Australia 
and New Guinea is seen in the Great Barrier Eeef, a sub- 
marine wall of coral, stretching 1,200 miles from Sandy Cape 
in Queensland to the shores of New Guinea. The reef now 
lies 2,000 feet under water ; but the coral-insect cannot live 
at a greater depth than about fifteen fathoms ; and the reef is 
therefore supposed to have been formed when the bottom of 
the sea was only that depth below the surface, and the land 
to have slowly subsided since its formation. 

The highest point in Australia is Mount Kosciusko, 6,500 
feet, one of the Alpine series in the west, and the summit of 
this and other heights of the same chain are perpetually 
covered with snow. The aspect of these mountains is rugged 
and savage in the extreme. Although their tops and flanks 
are in some cases covered with forests, the greater number are 
crested with terrific granite peaks and needles, and are ren- 
dered so inapproachable by precipices, foaming torrents, and 
dark gullies and ravines, that they form, especially in New 
South Wales, an almost impracticable barrier between the 
coast and the interior. 

Although indented with deep bays and harbours, there is 



480 AUSTRALIA. 

perhaps no other equal line of coast in the world with so few 
navigable rivers. Since the chief mountains lie near the 
coast on the east and west, the rivers that fall into the sea in 
those directions are necessarily short, and the only great river 
hitherto explored is the Murray, which, with its affluents, the 
Murrumbidjee and the Darling, rises on the west side of the 
eastern range, and takes a south-west direction to Encounter 
Bay. This river is nearly 2,000 miles long, and by clearing 
away the decaying stems and stumps of trees which had 
choked its course, it has been laid open, together with 
its affluents, for 2,500 miles. It is said that everything is 
reversed in Australia, and this is especially the case with the 
rivers, which are often deep and broad near their source, but 
become smaller as they run ; the level plains through which 
they flow render their course sluggish, and the evaporation 
in a dry warm climate so takes up the water before it 
reaches the ocean, that the rivers in a dry season are some- 
times merely a series of pools. The land is deficient in lakes 
as well as rivers. Excepting Lake Torrens, an immense salt 
marsh north of Spencer's Gulf, and another large salt lake dis- 
covered by Stuart in 1860, there are few real lakes, although 
many extensive marshes formed by the rains. 

Since the Tropic of Capricorn intersects the land, Australia 
has both a tropical and a temperate climate, but the prevailing 
characteristic of the atmosphere is absence of moisture. 

The natural productions of Australia are so new and strange, 
and there is so much that is unique in the conformation 
Produc- of the land, that it is little to be wondered at that pecu- 
liar theories have been broached to account for its 
origin — such, for instance, as that of Professor Blumenbach, who 
conjectured this isolated continent to have been a comet or small 
planet, which, having lost its proper centre of attraction, had 
been drawn towards our globe and plunged into its waters. 
Cuvier said of the vegetation and animals of Australia that ' they 
defy all rules, and break through all systems,' and many entire 
natural orders are absolutely unknown beyond its shores. Aus- 
tralia is not rich in vegetation, but out of 5,710 native plants 
already discovered, no less than 5,440 are peculiar to the region. 



NATUEAL PKODUCTIONS. 481 

These strictly Australian forms are chiefly confined to the 
smaller plants, to the common weeds and grasses, and to the 
orchids and umbelliferous tribes, of which a specimen now 
and then in our greenhouses startles us by its fantastic con- 
formation. But most of the forest trees, although belonging 
to species common to other countries, here grow in so curious 
a fashion, with their functions inverted, that they have often 
the appearance of new tribes. Thus, the gigantic Eucalyptus, 
or gum-tree, which is the monarch of the forest, and clothes 
with a stupendous mantle the surface both of Australia and 
Tasmania, holds its leaves vertically to the light so as to pre- 
sent both surfaces, and has a strange habit of throwing off its 
bark in long white strips, which, hanging down from the 
branches, give a most singular aspect to the woods ; and the 
Acacia, another gum-tribe which grows there in great abun- 
dance, is remarkable for its transformed and dilated leaf-stalks, 
which perform the office of leaves. What are mere meadow 
plants or lowly shrubs in Europe, there take rank among the 
trees. Thus, nettles attain a height of from fifteen to twenty 
feet ; giant weeds choke up the morasses ; the singular 
Zamais exhibit the leaves of a fern upon the trunk of a palm ; 
the uncouth grass-tree rises solitary upon the sandy plains, 
with its scorched and cylindrical stems crowned with tufts of 
long grassy leaves ; and the splendid Banksia, or wild honey- 
suckle, the ' most Australian of Australian plants,' rises to the 
height of fifty feet, with a trunk of two feet and a half in 
diameter. 

These curious growths are concentred chiefly in the 
southern parts of Australia. In the tropical regions of the 
north, Australian forms begin to blend with Malayan. 
Banksias disappear ; palms, and araucarias, and spice trees 
become common, and the enormous and dumpy form of the 
caper-tree of Senegal is a prevalent feature. 

No native eatable fruits have yet been discovered, excepting 
a kind of chestnut, the cranberry, and a few other berries. 
Wild tobacco has been found, and a tuber resembling the 

1 1 



482 AUSTRALIA. 

potato. All exotic fruits, cereals, and vegetables, thrive 
abundantly when introduced. 

The fauna of Australia is as singular as its flora. Nearly 

Native all of its 150 species of mammals are peculiar to 

Animals, the region. Buminants, pachydermata, and the 
quadrumana, or monkey-tribes, are entirely wanting. The 
marsupial or pouched animals, of which the kangaroo and 
opossum are the best known specimens, are by far the most 
prevalent, there being no less than 105 species of this tribe 
alone. Two genera of the opossum kind, only found here and 
in Tasmania, appear to be a link between the marsupial and 
the carnivorous tribes : these are, the Hairy-tails (Dasyurus), 
small animals resembling in their habits martens and pole- 
cats, of which a special variety, called by the colonists the 
Native Devil, is about the ugliest and most disgusting quad- 
ruped in nature. The rodents, of which there are twenty-one 
species, belong mostly to the rat kind, and nineteen are pecu- 
liar to the country. But the most anomalous animals are the 
Australian Edentata, or toothless tribes, which, although un- 
doubtedly quadrupeds, have organs of mastication resembling 
those of birds ; one of the genera, the duck-bill, has not only 
webbed feet and a bill like a duck, but mostly gets its living 
like a duck, by searching for insects and seeds at the muddy 
bottom of rivers. Professor Owen has proved that these 
creatures are not oviparous, as was supposed, but are allied 
in many respects to the marsupials. The only beast of prey 
is the dingo, or native dog, of the wolf species. 

The most common among the birds are the parrot tribe and 
honey-suckers ; eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls are also 
common, but all the singing birds and gallinaceous tribes are 
wanting. So numerous are the black swans, that above 300 
of them have been seen swimming near Tasmania within a 
quarter of a mile square. 

All the common animals useful to man have been intro- 

imported duced mto Australia, and are quickly naturalised. 

Animals. The Australian soil improves with wonderful rapidity 
when stock are once turned upon it, so that lands which seem 



ABOKIGINES. 483 

at first quite unfit for pasturage, are soon converted into sheep- 
runs by the mere grazing and stamping of the feet of the 
sheep upon the soil. But, although sheep have hitherto 
formed the principal source of wealth, there is a great impedi- 
ment to sheep-breeding in the scanty pasturage and constant 
droughts. The grass only grows in tufts, and never forms a 
continuous turf, so that it often requires from three to four 
acres to feed a single sheep. This renders the late intro- 
duction of the alpaca into Australia of extreme importance. 

The alpaca, a native of Peru, is a species of llama, with a 
long and silky fleece ; capable of doing without water for an un- 
usual length of time, and satisfied with the coarse grass which 
the sheep rejects. In spite of the prohibition of the Peruvian 
Government, some years ago, Mr. Ledger, a dariDg colonist, 
smuggled a whole fiock of 800 llamas from Peru to New South 
Wales, with infinite difficulty transporting the animals over 
the Andes to Chili, and thence embarking them. Many 
perished on the way, and out of the 800 that he set out with, 
he only succeeded in landing 300. But these have prospered 
exceedingly, and the Peruvian Government has now conceded 
to a South American house the licence to export 1,500 pure 
alpacas into Australia, a first instalment of 500 to be landed 
there this autumn (1863). By means of this animal, most 
valuable for its flesh and wool, it is anticipated that the vast 
arid lands in Central Australia may be rendered as profitable as 
the green plains near the coast. 

The aborigines, or Austra] -negroes, belong to the lowest 
type of the Malay family. Short in stature, skin of 
a sooty brown, they differ from the African negro n m< 
in the limbs being slight and agile, the nose more projecting, 
and the lips less thick. They live either in holes in the 
ground, or under the shelter of bark screens ; practise canni- 
balism occasionally ; and will eat snakes, grubs, and vermin. 
The men wear no clothes, and the women wrap themselves 
in opossum skins. Their arts and manufactures consist in 
throwing the boomerang and spear, and wielding the club and 
tomahawk, and in cutting these weapons out of wood and 

II 2 



484 AUSTRALIA. 

stone. They believe in a good spirit, Koyan — and in an evil 
one. Potoyan ; but they have no chiefs, and no idea of property. 
In their language, which is divided into many dialects, some 
affinity has been imagined to the Tamil and other languages 
of the Deccan. The settlers have made many efforts to civi- 
lise them, and, since they are good-humoured and acute, the 
men are sometimes useful as hut-keepers and shepherds, 
and a few girls become house-servants ; but all attempts to 
train the children in schools generally end in their throwing off 
their clothes and returning to their native haunts and habits. 
In West Australia, where white emigrants have been com- 
paratively few, and the settlers have thus been obliged to train 
and make use of the natives, there is some superiority in 
intelligence : they have learned to appreciate their rights as 
English subjects, and prefer mutton to kangaroo- But it is a 
singular fact, that although the children often greatly surpass 
the whites in the ease with which they learn reading, writing, 
and arithmetic, and are generally bright and intelligent, no 
sooner have they passed childhood than they relapse into the 
savage state, and have no ambition beyond eating till they 
are stupid, and basking under a gum-tree. No training can 
make them like hard work. ' White fellow,' they say, ' fool, 
too much. Work, work — always work ! Black fellow play, 
plenty play ! ' * The race is rapidly diminishing. 

Belief in the Terra Austral, or land lying west of America, 
First long preceded its actual discovery. From a manu- 
Expiorers. script lately found in the British Museum, it would 
appear that the earliest authenticated discovery was made in 
1601, by a Portuguese named Manoel Godinho di Eredia ; 
but the Dutch have generally laid claim to th*e honour, and 
from them the island received its first name of New Holland. 
In 1606, two Spaniards, Quiros and Torres, sailed from Peru 
in search of the unknown land, but apparently saw only the 
islands in Torres Strait. The same year a Dutch vessel from 

* Martin's Colonies, p. 738. 



THE FIRST EXPLORERS. 485 

Bantam touched upon the north coast, to the east of the Gulf 
of Carpentaria ; and subsequently Dutch navigators explored 
nearly half the coast. 

Towards the end of the century, English navigators entered 
the field, and chief among them, Captain Cook, in 1770, sur- 
veyed the east coast, which he named New South Wales, and 
proved that the new continent was an island. Between the 
vears 1798 and 1805, Grant, Bass, and Flinders surveyed the 
whole south coast, and in less than fifty years nearly all those 
parts of the coast that had been unseen by the Dutch were 
explored by the English. The most distinguished among these 
English explorers are — Captain Oxley, Surveyor- General of 
New South Wales ; Captain Sturt, Colonial Secretary of South 
Australia ; Sir Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor- General of New 
South Wales ; and Captain Grey (now Sir George Grey, the 
present Governor of New Zealand, and former Governor of 
West Australia and the Cape of Good Hope). The regions 
they discovered are now nearly all occupied by British 
settlers. » 

But still the vast interior remained a mystery, and has only 
become partially known through the daring of such 
men as Leichardt, Stewart, Burke, and Wills. Dr. rior Ex- 
Leichardt was a German Doctor of Philosophy, and p or 
had resolved upon traversing the whole Australian continent 
from east to west. The Governor at Sydney, Sir George 
Gipps, refused to aid him ; but, by means of his own re- 
sources and some private subscriptions, he headed a small party 
of whites and natives, and started from Sydney on August 13, 
1844. He managed to cross over to York's Peninsula in 
this first expedition, and in a second, in 1847, it is supposed 
that he succeeded in penetrating through Central Australia ; 
but he never returned, and bones of white men, found by 
Gregory, a subsequent explorer, near the northern outskirts 
of West Australia, were imagined to be those of Leichardt 
and his party. 

Ten years elapsed before any further attempt was made to 
search the interior — the gold discovery having absorbed ail 



486 AUSTRALIA. 

the time and energies of the colonists. But the rapid settle- 
ment of the country that followed gave a fresh interest to the 
discovery of new territory ; and hence several important 
expeditions have recently been made. Mr. Stewart, a former 
companion of Captain Sturt, started from Adelaide with only 
two attendants, in March 1860, and explored 1,600 miles in a 
north-west direction. He planted a flag in the centre of 
Australia, but found no central desert, as had been supposed to 
exist, but generally grassy and fertile country, interspersed 
between enormous tracts of impenetrable scrub, and also a 
large salt lake that extended northward about a hundred 
miles. He pronounced the interior to be practicable for land 
transit and telegraphic communication from one coast to 
the other. Before Mr. Stewart returned, another exploring 
party started from Melbourne, August 20, 1860, .under the 
leadership of Mr. Eobert O'Hara Burke and Mr. William 
John Wills, the astronomer of the expedition. This party 
took a northern direction, and Burke and Wills and two 
others, separating from tiie rest, crossed the whole continent 
to Carpentaria. On their return they missed the remainder 
of the party, who had been left in charge of the provisions ; and, 
in making a vain effort to reach the borders of South Australia, 
Burke and Wills perished with hunger. Happily, their 
i field books,' containing the description of the country they 
traversed, have all been found, and report favourably of that 
portion of the interior. And thus the daring and the suffer- 
ings of these and other heroic adventurers have led the way 
to the further colonization of the new continent, by gaining 
for us the knowledge that the middle region is a country 
possessing districts fit for pasture to an almost boundless 
extent. 



487 



CHAPTEE II. 

AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. 

Although the whole of the Australian continent belongs to 
Great Britain, the English settlements are at present limited 
to five colonies on the eastern, southern, and south-western 
coasts, viz. New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, West 
Australia, and Queensland. In 1855 the Australian colonies, 
including Tasmania, were constituted self-governing states, 
each having its own Governor and Colonial Parliament, 
customs, tariffs, &c. In the autumn of 1861 the capitals of 
^.ve of these colonies, viz. Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Bris- 
bane, and Hobart Town, were connected by 2,000 miles of 
electric telegraph. 

NEW SOUTH WALES. 

The province of New South Wales forms the south-eastern 
portion of Australia, and, according to the limits assigned 
it in 1859, occupies an area about ten times that of England, 
and is bounded on the north by Queensland, on the west by 
South Australia, on the south by the river Murray, which 
separates it from Victoria, and on the east by the Pacific. 

The country consists for the most part of wide plains, in- 
terrupted by short ranges of mountains or high hills. Natural 
These mountains are part of the great belt which Features. 
traverses the east coast of the continent, and which are known 
as the Liverpool Range in the north of the province, as the 
Blue Mountains near Sydney, and as the Australian Alps in 
the south. The waters which collect in the plains from these 
heights unite in the chief river, the Murray, but the number 
of flowing streams is very small, and the land is watered 
chiefly by a series of water-holes. The peculiarity of the climate 
is the liability to long droughts, followed generally by excessive 
rains. 



488 AUSTKALIA. 

New South "Wales is the oldest of the Australian colonies, 
Origin of an ^ owe & lts origin to the crowded state of the English 
the Colony, j ails at the end of the last century, which rendered 
some fresh penal settlement necessary, as a substitute for those 
in the United States, which had been lost to us in 1776. To 
meet this necessity, Captain Arthur Phillip was sent out in 
1787 with eleven ships of convicts, male and female, to found 
a settlement at Botany Bay, which, from Captain Cook's 

First description, was judged an eligible spot. He found, 
Settlement, however, a more convenient place at Port Jackson, 
a little farther north ; and there, on the site of the 
present capital of Sydney, the convicts were turned out in 
gangs to work upon the new soil. Sheep as well as convicts 
were introduced from England ; and rearing these proved to 
be so profitable an occupation of the land, that free settlers 
from England and elsewhere were soon attracted to the colony, 
and entered largely into sheep speculation. 

Naturally, an infant settlement of this kind had much dif- 
ficulty to struggle with. Want of provisions and the long 
droughts peculiar to the climate, together with the constant 
influx of fresh convict gangs, were sources of misery and con- 
fusion during many years, especially as the only government 
practicable was a sort of despotism under the governor for the 
time being and a few assistant officers. Education and religious 
instruction had been almost unprovided for ; divine service 
was performed in the open air for want of any place of worship, 
in some districts monthly, in others half-yearly ; and Dr. 
Ullathorne, the Catholic chaplain at Norfolk Island, stated in 
his evidence before the House of Commons so late as 1838, 
that the method by which the local government secured the 
peaceable observance of the Sabbath was by packing the 
convicts in l a series of boxes, 7 and locking them up there 
during the whole of the Sunday. 

By degrees, improvements were introduced. In 1823 a 
Legislative Council was appointed to assist the Governor. In 
1836 this Council passed an Act to provide for the building of 
churches and religious instruction ; in accordance with which, 



NEW SOUTH WALES. 489 

clergymen of several denominations were sent out at the ex- 
pense of the colonists, who also in the same year, 1837, 
defrayed the cost of conveying from England respectable school- 
masters and mistresses ; and in 1838 the colony was reported 
to be greatly advancing in l rural, commercial, and financial 
prosperity.' But, owing to the increasing excess of convicts 
over the free emigrants, a vast amount of crime and dis- 
organisation continued ; and in 1839, at the urgent desire of 
the settlers, transportation to New South Wales ceased, with 
the exception of a few convicts from Pentonville and other 
prisons. The total number of convicts transported there since 
the beginning was estimated at about 60,000. 

In 1849 a new era opened for the colony by the discovery 
of gold in the rocks about Bathrust and Turon. The Gold 
gold was first found by washing the earth from the Discovery, 
beds of creeks or shores ; but it was soon ascertained 
that the richest deposits were embedded in the quartz rocks, 
and were to be obtained by crushing the rock ; and in the 
early days of discovery washers and crushers worked for the 
treasure without control or licence. In 1851 the Government 
issued licences to dig at 1/. 10s. per month, and police and 
escorts were provided for each digging. In a short time the 
towns and villages were deserted ; all who were able to work 
repaired to the diggings, and the Port of Sydney became one 
of the great centres of the gold harvest. The excessive gold 
excitement and desertion of other occupations were, however, 
only temporary ; and since it has ceased to be a penal settle- 
ment, the colony has greatly prospered in all the regular 
branches of industry, and has now a wealthy, respectable, and 
settled population of about 360,000. 

Wool is still the great staple ; and New South Wales stands 
first among these colonies as regards both sheep and cattle. 
Stock-keeping is altogether more in favoiu' than farming in 
the colony. Maize is grown abundantly, but the bread-stuffs 
raised are scarcely sufficient for the colonists. Cotton-growing 
has been attempted, but the cotton, although good, is too 
costly. Wine is made in considerable quantities, similar in 



490 AUSTRALIA. 

character to Khenish. The most important mineral is coal, 
which is sent to India and China, after supplying the home 
demand. 

The settlement has been divided into twenty-two counties, 
. but, excepting in official documents, these divisions 
are scarcely recognised ; and the colonists themselves 
only make use of the great natural divisions, such as the dis- 
tricts of Hunter's Eiver, Hawkesbury, Bathurst, Argyle, and 
Port Macquarie. A large extent of the country is portioned 
out into Commissioners' Districts or Squatting Stations, where 
sheep and cattle-owners have licences to pasture their flocks, 
and these squatting stations, as population increases, gradually 
become converted into counties. 

Sydney, the capital, was named, after Viscount Sydney, 

Chief Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1788. It 
Towns. stands on the shore of Port Jackson, and with its 
large and land-locked haven is well fitted for a great com- 
mercial centre. The town is laid out with streets mostly at 
right angles, now well paved, and lighted with gas, and con- 
stantly plied with omnibuses and cabs. It is well supplied 
with water by means of wells and subterraneous aqueducts. 
Sydney was incorporated in 1842, and the mayor and corpo- 
ration have direction in all local affairs excepting the police, 
which is under the control of Government. 

The Governor's residence is an Elizabethan mansion, built 
on a rock overlooking Sydney Cove ; his summer residence is 
at Paramatta, at the head of Port Jackson, a name known to 
us through the soft woollen cloth manufactured there. 

Other chief towns are, Bathurst, in the Macquarie district, 
nearly 200 miles from Sydney, chiefly important now from its 
vicinity to the gold diggings of Ophir ; Newcastle, at the 
mouth of the river Hunter, so named from its collieries ; 
Campbellton, twenty miles south of Sydney, famous for its 
leather trade ; Windsor, on the Hawkesbury, has its grinding 
mills, breweries, and tanneries ; and Liverpool, on the St. 
George, its large retail trade. 



VICTORIA. 491 

The administration of New South Wales is vested in a 

Captain-general and Governor-in-chief (salary, 7,000Z.) ; aided 

| by a Council, appointed by the Crown ; and a Legislative 

J Assembly, of fifty-four members, chosen by the electors. The 

I bishopric of Sydney was founded in 1836, and consists of the 

southern part of New South Wales: income, 1,500/. ; clergy, 

i 69. A cathedral (St. Andrew) is now in course of erection 

i| at Sydney, which will be the first English cathedral that has 

been founded in the colonies. 



VICTORIA. 



Victoria, or Port Phillip, lies between New South Wales 
and South Australia, at the south-eastern point of Natura i 
| the Australian continent, and extends about 500 Features. 

miles in length east and west, and in breadth about 300 miles. 
I The recognised northern boundary of the settlement is a 
straight line from Cape Howe to the nearest source of the 
Eiver Murray, and thence the course of the river itself to the 
eastern limit of South Australia. 

The main feature of the district is the great proportion of 
1 level accessible land. Towards the south the soil is composed 
of the dark chocolate -coloured earth, formed of decomposed 
I lava, and peculiar to volcanic regions, which is remarkable 
for its fertility. The land is but scantily watered by the 
; Murray and its tributaries ; but the surplus waters of these 
streams often collect in large lagoons, and form natural reser- 
voirs in the dry surface ; and it was the great beauty of the 
rich grassy plains on the south, with their fresh pools ready 
prepared, it would seem, for the boundless flocks and herds 
that were hereafter to overrun them, that led Sir Thomas 
Mitchell, who surveyed the coast in 1836, to name this part 
Australia Felix. Large tracts in the interior are still but 
partially explored, and covered with the thick ' mallee ' scrub. 
The principal mountain range of the province is a continuation 
of the Australian Alps, or Warragong chain, which traverses 
New South Wales. 



492 AUSTRALIA. 

Captain Cook first touched on this coast in 1770 ; and nearly 
History of thirty years afterwards, Mr. Bass, a ship surgeon, 
Settlement. an( j Captain Flinders, were employed by the Go- 
vernor of New South Wales to explore it farther. Bass passed 
through the straits, now named after himself, and anchored in 
a harbour which he called Western Port, because it lay west 
of Sydney ; and Flinders afterwards entered the fine haven to 
the west of this port, which was called Port Phillip, in honour 
of the first Governor of New South Wales. But Flinders 
found that a portion of the coast previously explored by 
himself had been visited subsequently by a French naval 
officer, and christened Terre Napoleon ; and this circum- 
stance causing alarm in the English Government lest the 
French should colonise it, Colonel Collins was sent out from 
England in 1803 to forestall them by planting there a penal 
settlement. As soon as Collins landed his convicts, many of 
them tried to escape to the woods, and the place appeared to 
him so unsuitable that he re-embarked and proceeded to Van 
Dieman's Land, and founded the settlement now known as 
Hobart's Town ; and it was mainly from the English settlers in 
Van Dieman's Land that Port Phillip was ultimately colonised, 
about thirty years afterwards. 

The rapid growth of the colony of Victoria is a marvel even 
in the history of modern settlement, and it is only by looking 
at its history somewhat in detail that we can understand the 
quick transformation of a desert waste into a province that 
now ranks among England's most advanced colonial offspring. 

F . It was in April, 1835, that six settlers in Van 

Settlement, Dieman's Land formed themselves into an associa- 
tion, under the leadership of a Mr. John Batman, to 
proceed with their families and stock to the opposite shore of 
Port Phillip, with the view of finding better pasture for their 
sheep, and for themselves less close neighbourhood with a 
convict population ; and in the May of that year Batman 
made the first trial of the new country with his wife and seven 
daughters. The family so far won the favour of the natives 
that they agreed to cede them 100,000 acres of land, extend- 



VICTORIA. 493 

ing from Geelong Harbour to the head of Port Phillip, in 
return for a yearly tribute of 50 pairs of blankets, 50 toma- 
hawks, 50 knives and pairs of scissors, 50 looking-glasses, 
20 suits of clothes, and 2 tons of flour ; the native chiefs 
Jaga-Jaga, Cooloolach, and Bangaree, signing the deed of 
assignment with their crosses. In the following August the 
other six Launceston settlers came over with their families ; 
and their leader, Fawkner, took up a position of great beauty 
on the bank of the Yarra-Yarra — the site of the future 
Melbourne — and opened there a sort of public-house, while 
Batman opened a provision-store in the neighbourhood. 

But this private Van Dieman's Land Association closed the 
next year, in consequence of the decision of the Home Govern- 
ment that the right to the new soil was vested in the Crown. 
The compact with the natives was therefore declared invalid, 
and Port Phillip was made a Crown colony under the Govern- 
ment of New South Wales. In the March of 1837, Sir 
Eichard Bourke, Governor of New South Wales, made an 
official visit to the new settlement, and fixed the sites of three 
of its future towns. He gave the premier's name of Melbourne 
to the future metropolis which was to overshadow the log-hut 
refreshment-stores of Fawkner and Batman ; the king's name 
to Williamstown ; and retained the native name of Geelong 
for the third. Subsequently the surrounding districts were 
divided into the counties of Bourke, Grant, and Normanby, 
and the rest of the located portions of the colony into the 
Pastoral or Commissioner's Districts of Western Port and 
Portland Bay. 

From this time the colony rapidly increased. Millions of 
acres of lightly-timbered soil lay before the new comers, who 
poured into this land of plenty in a continuous stream from 
Tasmania and New South Wales, and the readiest way to 
wealth was by dividing the land into runs, on which each 
squatter pastured his sheep and cattle. On one of these runs, 
belonging to Mr. Cameron at Clunes, was made the Gold 
first discovery of gold in Port Phillip, but the Discovery. 
owner long concealed the fact from the fear that it would injure 



494 AUSTRALIA. 

his sheep-pasture. The existence of gold in the colony had 
long been suspected by the scientific, on the ground that the 
silurian rocks in the district belonged to the same range as 
those in New South Wales, where the Bathurst and Turon 
workings were already in operation ; and it became important 
that the fact of its existence should be confirmed, since the mi- 
gration of the population to the South Wales diggings, and an 
anticipated migration to California, had begun to create a panic 
at Melbourne. Exploring parties were therefore organised, and 
owing to their researches, and those of residents who were 
keenly on the look-out within their own territories, several 
small diggings were speedily disclosed and worked, until all 
other discoveries were eclipsed by the revelation of the inex- 
haustible treasures of Mount Alexander and Ballarat, in 1851. 
In these districts the largest masses of gold ever seen have 
been brought to light; and the finest nugget on record, 
naively christened the ' Welcome,' was found at Ballarat in 
1858. This nugget weighed 148 lbs., and was sold at Mel- 
bourne for 10,500/. 

The year 1851 was an important one in the history of the 
colony. At the urgent request of the settlers, Port Phillip 
ceased to be a dependency of New South Wales, &nd assumed 
its separate colonial existence under the name of Victoria ; 
and, on September 1st, the Victorian Government issued 
licences to dig for gold : from which time a marvellous change 
took place in the social condition of the people. No sooner 
were the licences issued, than nearly half the male population 
rushed to the gold-fields. Houses were left half built, ware- 
houses, law courts, and even pulpits, were deserted, and 
agricultural pursuits were checked in nearly every part of the 
colony. But whatever amount of disorganisation was the 
immediate consequence, after the first paroxysm of the gold 
fever had subsided, the gold discovery itself tended to pro- 
mote the real advance of the colony. 

Mr. Knight's gilt pyramid under the eastern dome of the 
International Exhibition of 1862, representing the entire 
amount of gold exported from Victoria between October 1851 



VICTORIA. 495 

and October 1361, equalling in value 100,000,000/. — that is, 
about one-eighth of the National Debt of Great Britain — 
gained much in interest when regarded in connection with 
the changes effected over a whole country b j the quarrying of 
it within those ten years. Only four small towns in Victoria 
owe their rise to agriculture, but no less than ten principal 
towns have sprung up in the neighbourhood of the diggings, 
and have derived their origin from the requirements of the 
mining population. The ' Gold Commission,' established in 
the first year of the discovery, for the protection of the miners, 
followed after the excited crowds with its magistrates, police, 
and ministers of religion, and thus helped to prepare the 
savage wilderness for the growth of orderly communities. 

For the first three years the gold-seekers were content with 
their calico tents and bark huts, and even the bank officials 
transacted business in little canvas houses, ( where the bank 
manager of the present day would hardly trust his horse.' 
But soon a large proportion of the miners found that there 
was a better chance of sure and steady profit from supplying 
the needs of the gold-diggers than in digging for themselves ; 
and presently these mining districts became so many fresh 
centres of trade and civilisation. As early as 1858, railways 
began to connect the more important of the gold-fields with 
the sea-board ; and the old camps were in a marvellously short 
time replaced by stone and brick dwellings, public buildings, 
busy markets, and miles of paved and gas-lighted streets. 
The town of Ballarat, for instance, which in 1851 consisted of 
a single shepherd's hut, now has 25,000 inhabitants, and its 
weekly and daily newspapers. 

Since the gold discovery, the population has increased 
more than six- fold, and, in 1861, numbered 540,000. Most 
of them are British emigrants. It has been the practice of 
the Government to encourage the influx of the working-classes 
by annual pecuniary grants, and by this means nearly 
117,000 persons have been introduced ; but there has likewise 
been a concurrent stream of about 600,000 middle-class emi- 
grants, to whose superior capabilities and pecuniary resources 



496 AUSTRALIA. 

it is mainly owing that Victoria now holds so high a position 
among the colonies. 

The present settlers are mostly congregated in a district 
less than the area of Scotland, within about a hundred miles 
from the coast, at an average density of less than eighteen to 
the square mile. This district includes the four most po- 
pulous counties of Bourke, Grant, Grenville, and Talbot, 
which contain the metropolis of Melbourne, and the gold- 
fields of Ballarat and Mount Alexander. Of course the 
mining classes predominate over all others, and include a 
large wandering population of Chinese. But gold-mining in 
Victoria is no longer an ephemeral fortune-hunting specu- 
lation. The gold-fields, long since stripped of their richer 
deposits, now present openings where only real industry, 
combined with ample appliances of machinery, will make them 
productive ; and the 20,000 square miles of surface in which 
there is reckoned to be a possibility of remunerative gold- 
deposits, may prove as permanent a source of occupation and 
wealth to the colony as the tin and lead mines are to Great 
Britain. 

The staple exports are, at present, chiefly those connected 
with stock ; wool, hides, skins, and tallow ; but there are 
indigenous products in the colony which it is expected will 
form the basis of important manufactures. 

The colony has been divided into twenty-four counties ; 
and beyond these settled portions lie the Wimmera 

Districts 

and Murray squatting districts, which are now 
among the most valuable stock districts in Australia. In 
1861, there were forty-six towns in the settlement to which 
municipal government had been granted. 

Melbourne, the capital, in the county of Bourke, is by far 

Chief tne l ar o est town, in Australia. It stands on the 

Towns* Yarra-Yarra, eight miles from its mouth at Port 

Phillip, and is the emporium for all the foreign trade of the 

colony. It has great extent of wharf accommodation, and 

has immensely developed since the gold discovery, but the 



VICTORIA. 497 

plan of the town is much too confined for its present require- 
ments. The principal street is rather ironically named Collins, 
after the colonel who declared Port Phillip unfit for settle- 
ment in 1803. The streets are so narrow that many of them 
used to be impassable in the days of bullock-waggons, and 
were so full of deep ruts and muddy gullies, that a visitor in 
1842 remarked that he was startled by seeing a newspaper 
paragraph headed, L Another child drowned in the streets of 
Melbourne.' Mortality among children from other causes 
than this is now an unfortunate characteristic of Melbourne, 
and such is the unhealthiness of the place that during the 
summer months the deaths nearly equal the births. The 
excessive dryness of the air, which renders the town un- 
healthy, makes bush-fires very prevalent in the neighbourhood. 
On the last day of the year 1862 nearly the whole line of 
country from Melbourne to Castlemaine was reported to be 
on fire, with a raging hot wind, and the thermometer 114° 
in the shade. 

Geelong, the capital of Grant, is the next town in im- 
portance to Melbourne, and is the chief port for wool. 

Williamstown, the sea-port town of Melbourne, has become 
a mere village. 

The Go vernor-in- Chief resides at Melbourne, and receives 
a salary of 10,000Z. per annum — the largest sum Q. overn . 
awarded to any of the colonial rulers. The Legis- ment. 
lative Council is composed of 30 members ; the Assembly of 
60 members, returned from three electoral districts. Mel- 
bourne was created the bishopric for the province in 1847 : 
Income, 1,333/. 6s. 8d. ; number of Clergy, 70. In 1861, 
there were 874 places of worship in the colony, 880 schools, 
and an endowed university at Melbourne, 30 institutions for the 
sick and destitute, and a public library of 30,000 volumes. 
Melbourne has now railway, steam-packet, and telegraphic 
communication with the other towns in the settlement. 



KK 



498 AUSTRALIA. 



SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 

South Australia is a territory of about 300,000 square miles 
in area ; bounded eastward by New South Wales and Victoria, 
westward by the unoccupied district which divides it from 
West Australia, and extending northwards to the 26° parallel ! 
S. lat. 

The general aspect of the country is tame, in consequence 

Natural of the absence of mountains of any great height, I 
Features. Qr Q f r i vers f an y importance ; but the climate is 
exceedingly fine, and some of the scenery is not deficient in 
beauty. The Adelaide Hills, or Mount Lofty range, which 
approach the coast about 12 miles south of Adelaide, and 
trend northwards for about 30 miles, culminating in Mount 
Lofty, a wooded mountain of 2,412 feet, form the main feature 
of the scenery. The principal river is the Murray, which 
waters a small portion of the settlement at the south-east. The 
greater part of the country is unproductive, and the west 
portion is a mere waste ; but in the settled districts of the 
south-east there are fertile tracts of the brown loamy volcanic 
soil, in which vegetation is most abundant, and finely- wooded 
country with large timber trees. The coast-line is marked 
by the two deep inlets of the sea at Spencer Gulf and 
St. Vincent's Bay, and the smaller curve of Encounter Bay, 
and by the Kangaroo Island, which is an appendage of the i 
settlement. 

These regions remained but little known until, as we have 
seen, a long and severe drought at New South Wales led the 
colonists to consider whether the coast open to the south 
winds of the Pacific might not be better supplied with rain, ( 
and in other respects more suitable for settlement. An i 
officer of a New South Wales regiment, Captain Sturt, volun- : 
teered to ascertain the fact, and in a small boat threaded his i 
way along the Murray for nearly a thousand miles, and reached i 
~he Pacific at Encounter Bay in 1830. He reported well of the i 
region, and other explorers followed. Captain Barker went out \ 



\ 






SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 499 

in 1831, but was murdered by the natives while surveying 
Lake Victoria : his companion, Mr. Kent, returned and con- 
firmed Sturt's favourable opinion. 

Accordingly, in 1834, through the exertions of Messrs. 
Grote, Wakefield, Rowland Hill, and others, aided Colon 
by the Duke of Wellington, an Act was passed Established, 
for the formation of the colony of South Aus- 
tralia, and its limits were defined. But the commissioners 
appointed for the management, with Colonel Torrens for 
their chairman, did not succeed in raising the needful sum 
for its foundation by the sale of land-lots, until a few 
spirited persons formed themselves into a South Australian 
Company and bought a sufficient number of acres to begin 
with. Captain Hindmarsh was appointed first Governor of 
the new colony, and in 1836 a number of emigrants started. 
They first landed at Kangaroo Island, whence their surveyor, 
Captain Light, made an examination of the coast round 
St. Vincent's Gulf, and fixed the site of the future capital of 
Adelaide. 

Owing apparently to great mismanagement and want of 
harmony between the authorities, the colony did not thrive 
during the first years ; it became burdened with debt, and the 
sale of land had almost ceased. Two events, however, occurred 
which relieved the settlement from its difficulties. The first 
was the appointment of Captain Grey as Governor in 1841, 
who, by rigid retrenchments and prudent policy, restored 
financial credit : the second was, a fortunate discovery in the 
land itself, which gave a new stimulus to enterprise. 

Among the settlers was a Mr. Dutton, who had been 
educated at the institute of M. de Fellenberp;, at ^. 

# & > Discovery 

Hofwyl in Switzerland, where, says Mr. Martin, he of Copper, 
had acquired some knowledge of mineralogy during 
the annual pedestrian tours of the pupils in the mountain 
regions. l One day, when in search of one of his flocks of 
sheep, which had been dispersed during a thunder-storm, he 
ascended a hill and pulled up his horse beside a rock which 
at first sight he supposed to be covered with a beautiful green 

KI 2 



500 AUSTRALIA. 

moss. The habit acquired in Switzerland of examining any 
rocks or stones which presented a curious appearance, induced 
Mr. Dutton to dismount, when he found a large protruding 
mass of clay slate, strongly tinged and impregnated with a 
mineral which he supposed must be copper, from the close 
resemblance of the colour to verdigris.' He communicated 
his discovery to his friend Captain Bagot, whose son had 
also found a fine specimen of the green carbonate of copper 
while gathering wild flowers in the plain. The two friends i 
immediately bid for eighty acres of this land, which had been 
advertised for a month past in the Government ' Gazette,' and - 
obtained it at 11. per acre. Some Cornish miners, who had 
turned their hands to field labour in the new country, were 
quickly set to work. 

This first discovery of copper ore was soon followed by I 
others. A heavy dray passing along the road and grinding | 
the soil aside with its wheels, revealed some brilliant frag- 
ments beneath the surface, and so brought to light a silver 
lead mine. In 1845, the Burra Burra copper mines were 
discovered, about 90 miles from Adelaide, which yield the 
finest copper ore known, and return an average of about 
200,000Z. per annum. South Australia now stands pre- 
eminent as a copper-producing colony, as well as a flourishing 
agricultural country, and rich in pastoral wealth. The staples 
are wool and copper. 

The population is nearly 130,000, and consists in a large 

proportion of small freeholders, who form a very independent 

and comfortable class of colonists. About 5,000 of the in- 

Districts na ^i tants are Germans. The settled parts of the 

and chief colony have been divided into counties : viz. Sturt, 

Hindmarsh, Eussel, Adelaide, Gawler, Eyre, Stanley, 

and Flinders ; all of which lie to the east of the Gulfs of 

Spencer and St. Vincent, except the county of Flinders, 

which lies on the south-west shore of Spencer Gulf. 

The capital of Adelaide stands on a finely -wooded sloping 
ground on the banks of the Torrens, about seven miles from 
its port. Unlike Melbourne, the town was laid out at first on 
so extensive a scale, that the accommodation still far exceeds 



WEST AUSTRALIA. 50l 

the population. It lias fine large public squares, and thirty- 
principal streets intersecting each other at right angles. The 
part of the city built on the left bank of the river is called 
South Adelaide, and contains the Governor's residence, and is 
the chief trading quarter ; it is connected with North Adelaide 
on the opposite bank by four wooden bridges. 

Adelaide was erected into a bishopric for South Australia 
in 1847 (income, 800/.); Clergy, 31. It is also the seat of 
a Eoman Catholic episcopate. The Wesley ans predominate 
among the dissenters, and Christian churches and chapels 
were founded with unusual rapidity in this settlement. A 
numerous class are the German Lutherans, who fled here from 
religious persecution in their own land. Schools also are 
numerous : a Church -of-England collegiate school was founded 
in 1849, and Adekide has a large grammar school, chiefly 
for the labouring classes. 

The present Parliament was framed in 1856. The Captain- 
General and Governor-in- Chief (salary, 7,000Z.) is aided by a 
ministry of five, all of whom require to be members of the 
Parliament. The Legislative Council is composed of 18 
members, elected by the whole colony voting as one district. 
The House of Assembly consists of 36 members, elected for 
three years by seventeen districts. 



WEST AUSTRALIA. 

Western Australia, or the Swan Eiver Settlement, extends 
over that portion of Australia which lies westward of the 
129th degree of E. long., and, according to the affixed area, 
is a country larger than Eussia ; but, although the largest of 
the Australian provinces, it has the fewest white settlers, and 
has hitherto been the least prosperous of the colonies. Like 
the other provinces, the settled districts occupy only a very 
small proportion, and in this colony they lie at the extreme 
south-west corner of the settlement. 

The country has neither lofty mountains nor fine rivers. 



502 AUSTRALIA. 

The Swan Eiver, so called from the black swans seen on its 
Natural banks by Vlaming, its Dutch discoverer, is only 
Features, navigable for boats for about forty miles, and the 
chief feature of the district is a rocky wooded range, called 
the Darling Hills, which runs nearly parallel with the west 
coast, at an average distance of about 20 miles, and presents 
the appearance of a mighty forest dividing the land into two 
districts ; the tract near the sea is called the Plain of Quar- 
tiana, the other to the east is vaguely termed the ' Country 
over the Hills.' The geological structure and incline of the 
mountains would indicate great mineral wealth : iron, coal, 
copper, lead, and silver, have already been found. There is 
great diversity of soil ; with much waste land, there are large 
alluvial districts where vines, olives, and tobacco flourish, and 
near Perth there is a forest of mahogany trees 300 miles in 
extent. The climate is warm, but not subject to the droughts 
of the east coast, and English labourers can work all day in 
the open air in summer-time without inconvenience. 

The beginning of colonisation on this coast was so dis- 
astrous, that until of late years the Swan Eiver 
Settlement, attempt was cited as an instance of complete failure 
in British settlement. Fear lest the French should 
be beforehand with us in colonising this region was the 
primary motive that stimulated the English Government to 
take possession of it in 1829, and to hoist the British flag at 
the mouth of the Swan Eiver ; but it was left to private 
enterprise to supply the funds and organise the future settle- 
ment. Mr. Thomas Peel, Captain Latour, and others, under- 
took to send out emigrants, receiving in compensation certain 
grants of land ; and Captain Stirling was appointed Superin- 
tendent, with authority to select for himself 100,000 acres. 
But as these grants of land were made conditional upon the 
settlement being formed within a certain time, the emigrants 
were hurried off without due preparation, and arrived at the 
Swan Eiver in July, that is, mid-winter, at a most tempes- 
tuous season. Some of the ships were dashed to pieces on 
the beach, and, without a hut or a shed to take refuge in, the 



WEST AUSTRALIA. 503 

unfortunate emigrants were landed on that strange shore — 
ladies and children, soldiers and farmers, horses, pigs, piano- 
fortes, mills, casks, and bedding — all huddled together pell- 
mell amidst drenching rain. And since most of the land 
that had been granted had still to be explored, and not an 
acre of it had been surveyed, none of the settlers knew where 
to plant themselves ; and thus the misery was not merely 
temporary. Many lost their property in the confusion — many 
died from exposure and want — some managed to get away 
with what little they could save ; and among those who re- 
mained there were so many disputes as to the pick of the 
land, that it was fifteen years before boundary fences could 
be put up. This unfortunate beginning tended to create a 
prejudice against the colony, and having no Government 
support or strong party at home interested in its success, the 
Swan River settlement failed to attract emigrants and capital ; 
although, considering the scarcity of labour, a surprising 
amount of land was actually brought under cultivation, and 
the little community showed in their reports an unusually 
small amount of crime. 

In 1849 the settlement was much helped by the formation 
in London, by Earl Grey, of a Colonisation Assurance Com- 
pany, for the promotion of colonisation, which began its opera- 
tions first in West Australia by sending out emigrants and 
providing funds for churches. After the transportation of 
convicts to Tasmania had ceased, the Swan River colonists 
petitioned that theirs might be made a penal settlement, as a 
means of obtaining a sufficient supply of labour for the con- 
struction of roads and harbours, and for the felling of timber. 
The request was granted, and West Australia is now the only 
place on the Australian continent to which convicts are sent, 
and these convicts are selected from among the better class, 
who when their term is expired are likely to become useful 
settlers. 

The white population numbers only about 17,000. The 
staple exports are wool, timber, oil, and fish. 

The settlement has been divided into twenty-six counties ; 



504 AUSTKALIA. 

the capital is Perth, a large straggling town, situated on the 
Swan Eiver, about eleven miles from its mouth. The town 
gives proof of the progress of late years : it has good houses 
of brick and stone, various churches and chapels, a Govern- 
ment-house, Court-house, bank, barracks, and hospital. Farms 
and homesteads have sprung up in the country around, and 
land allotments in the neighbourhood, which twenty years 
ago were sold ' for a bottle of grog,' are now worth from 500/. 
to 1,000/. The sea -port of Perth is the town of Freemantle, 
which is now a convict station. 

The colony is ruled by a Governor (salary, 1,800Z.), aided 
by an Executive and Legislative Council ; but at present the 
popular and elective principle has not come into operation, as 
has been the case in New South Wales, Victoria, and South 
Australia, where mining and other occupations have con- 
gregated together great masses of the trading and working 
classes, and have thus given a strong democratic bias to the 
settlements. Perth was constituted the bishopric for part of 
West Australia in 1857. Clergy, 18. 

QUEENSLAND. 

Queensland, or Moreton Bay, formerly a part of New South 
Wales, is a territory about nine times the size of England and 
Wales, occupying the north-east portion of Australia. Point 
Danger, in latitude 28° 8', marks the southern boundary line 
that separates it from New South Wales, from which its ex- 
treme northern limit, Cape York, is more than 1,000 miles 
distant; washed by the Pacific on the east, its boundary 
westward is still indefinite. 

Queensland is described as pre-eminently a fair land for 
Natural settlement. Its mountains are the northern con- 
Features, tinuation of the Australian Alps — the metal-bearing 
range of New South Wales and Victoria ; the country west- 
ward stretches out for hundreds of miles into well-watered, 
lightly- timbered plains, with pasture ready for flocks and 
herds innumerable; while the tract between the mountains and 



QUEENSLAND. 505 

the coast on the east abounds in forest trees, and is nearly all 
fit for cultivation. The streams are numerous, and some of 
them navigable for many miles. The two chief rivers are the 
Brisbane, which, with its tributary, the Bremer, is navigable 
for fifty miles ; and the Condamine, a large river which drains 
the downs in the west. The climate, though warm, is healthy 
for Europeans : it is more free from drought than the southern 
colony, and the sea-breezes perpetually temper the powerful 
summer heat. 

Captain Cook anchored in the bay at the mouth of the 
Brisbane in 1770, and named it Moreton Bay after the Earl 
of Moreton, then President of the Royal Society ; but no 
thorough examination was made of the coast until 1823, when 
the crowded state of the penal establishment at Sydney made 
it necessary to find another convict station. Already had Van 
Dieroan's Land, Norfolk Island, and Port Macquarie been 
made use of to relieve the parent colony, but still there needed 
some secure place beyond the limits of the free population for 
the more abandoned and desperate of the criminals, and such 
a place, it was hoped, might be found in the unexplored 
regions to the north. 

Mr. Oxley, the Surveyor- General, with some others, under- 
took the search. Upon anchoring in a small creek 

x . G Moreton 

near Moreton Bay, they perceived some savages Bay Settie- 
approaching their cutter, one of whom had a skin 
lighter in colour than the rest, and, to their surprise, hailed 
them in English. This man proved to be one Thomas 
Pamphlet, who had left Sydney some months before, with his 
comrades, to fetch cedar, but who had been driven out to sea 
and cast ashore at Moreton Bay. The blacks of that part 
happily proved well disposed, and Pamphlet and his mates 
lived among them, daubed their bodies with white and red 
paint, and turned savages for a time. But, the narrative tells 
us, the Englishmen did not find aboriginal society agreeable, 
even 'when most friendly, and they accordingly tried to make 
their way back to Sydney on foot — a distance of fiye hundred 
miles— their only guide, over bush and swamp and river, 



506 AUSTRALIA. 

being the direction of the shadows at noonday, and the pointer- 
star of the Southern Cross by night. After traversing some 
miles, Pamphlet and Finnigan lost courage, and returned to 
the friendly blacks ; their companion, Parsons, went on alone, 
and was never heard of more. But Pamphlet, in telling his 
story to Mr. Oxley, spoke of a large and deep river which they 
had crossed, and which emptied its waters into the bay not 
far from where their cutter was anchored. This river Mr. 
Oxley explored, under the guidance of Finnigan, and named 
it the Brisbane, after the Governor of New South Wales, Sir 
Thomas Brisbane ; and upon its banks, ten miles from Moreton 
Bay, he fixed the site for the convict settlement. 

For eighteen years this pleasant spot — with its winding 
river and wooded heights, which seemed specially intended by 
nature for the abode of the peaceful and happy — was made 
the receptacle for the refuse of Port Jackson, until, as the 
colony grew, the nuisance of the convict population became so 
intolerable that the Government yielded to the petition of the 
settlers, and, in 1842, Moreton Bay was declared a free settle- 
ment. As soon as it was released from its penal incubus, the 
colony rose rapidly ; squatters soon began to lead their nocks 
and herds into the grassy downs beyond the mountains ; and 
in 1843 Moreton Bay may be said to have begun its political 
existence by returning one member to the House of Assembly 
at Sydney. When, in 1851, the colony at Port Phillip 
effected its separation from New South Wales, the settlers at 
Queens- Moreton Bay were stimulated also to try and 
land, 1859. achieve independence, and kept up an agitation to 
this end for many years ; and at length, in 1859, Her Majesty 
graciously gave consent to its independent existence, and 
adopted a new name for the settlement ; in consequence of 
which, on the 10th of December, Moreton Bay, with all the 
region north of Point Danger, was proclaimed as the new colony 
of Queensland. On the same day the first Governor, Sir George 
Bowen, arrived from Sydney, and was welcomed by thousands 
of his countrymen, in their gayest holiday attire, as his steamer 
approached the green banks of his future domain. 



QUEENSLAND. 507 

Queensland has been divided into seven districts, viz. 
Moreton, Darling Downs, Maranoa, Leichardt, Port Digits 
Curtis District, The Burnett, and Kennedy. Of and Towns, 
these, Moreton is the most accessible, the most densely peopled, 
and the first in importance from containing the two principal 
towns of Brisbane and Ipswich. 

Brisbane, the capital and chief seaport, stands on the site 
of the old convict establishment, in a most beautiful and 
healthy situation on the river bank, and already exhibits all 
the cheerful bustle of a new trading community. At present, 
it has but a straggling, unfinished appearance, but some of its 
central streets contain good buildings. It has many churches 
and chapels, a national school, a school of art, and several 
hotels; and in the high grounds adjacent there are pleasant 
villa residences. The handsomest buildings are the new gaol 
and the Government-house. Ipswich is the largest inland 
town, but there are many other trading centres, which are 
beginning to claim to be ranked as towns and the capitals of 
districts. 

At present, Queensland is eminently a pastoral colony : 
the great squatting interest is that which attracts most men 
and capital, and millions of sheep and thousands of cattle and 
horses are now depasturing the western plains. Farming is 
still in its infancy, and but few are en^a^ed in „ 

J ' . . Kesources 

agriculture, and the great desideratum is a large of the 
influx of industrious working men and their families, 
who will develope the resources of the country. The soil 
is equal to the produce of any species of grain and root, 
and in that half-tropical, half-temperate latitude nearly all 
the vegetables and fruits can be matured. Thus, while po- 
tatoes, cabbages, turnips, beans, peas, and other homely crops, 
flourish in the south — pine-apples, bananas, sugar-canes, 
cinchona, spices, oranges, grapes, tea, coffee, and tobacco grow 
in the north. The most profitable fruits are the pine and 
banana, and whole acres of pine-plantations may now be seen 
in the low districts. 

But a great hope for the future of Queensland is the 



508 AUSTRALIA. 

admirable fitness of its soil for the production of cotton of the 
Sea-Island and other finer species. The cotton-plant in these 
districts is not an annual, as in America, but a perennial, 
which, with proper treatment, may last and produce cotton- 
down during several years ; consequently, the labour of its 
production will be diminished, and the climate, moreover, is 
one in which Europeans can be cotton-field labourers. 

Another valuable article of commerce is likely to be derived 
from a singular inhabitant of the Indian seas, which visits 
these coasts during seven months in the year, viz. the Dugong- 
fish, an enormous creature, something between a seal and a 
whale, with a head like that of a fat calf. To this animal has 
been awarded the honour of being the true behemoth, or 
water-ox, of the Book of Job. Its flesh is said to be excellent 
food ; but its commercial value is in the oil, which is reported 
by medical men to possess all and more than the virtues of 
cod-liver oil, without its disagreeable qualities. The dugongs 
are caught from the island of St. Helena in Moreton Bay, and 
during the season a large boiler is constantly steaming down 
one of these monsters, the oil from which runs out from a tap 
in the upper part.* 

The exports of the colony at present are principally con- 
nected with stock, such as wool, hides, tallow, &c. 

The Government consists of a Governor, a Council of 14, at 
Govern- present nominated by the Governor, and an Assembly 
ment, &c. of 26 mem bers elected by the people. 

The district of Moreton Bay was formed into the diocese 
of Brisbane in 1859 by the division of the large diocese of 
Newcastle : Clergy, 16. The Church of England is the most 
numerous section, the Eoman Catholic next, and the four sec- 
tions of Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans 
are about equal. The education provided by Act of Parlia- 
ment for the colony is based on the National System. Already 
Queensland has seven newspapers, all professing liberal prin- 
ciples. Steamers ply regularly between Brisbane and Ipswich 

* Queensland, by Greorge Wight. 



QUEENSLAND. 509 

and the chief coast stations, and roads and tramroads have 
begun to connect the inland towns and the capital with the 
Downs. 

The population of the province is about 31,000. Since 
Queensland stretches nearer to the tropics than any Inhabi . 
other colony at present in Australia, there is more tants - 
need of labourers suited to a warm climate, and consequently 
less jealousy of the immigration of Asiatics — Coolies and China- 
men — than in the other settlements. A Queensland newspaper 
even announced that a Chinaman had been elected alderman for 
Maryborough, one of the new towns, and that Alderman Chiam 
returned thanks to the ' worthy and independent electors in a 
very sensible speech.' Nevertheless, the European labourers 
always dread competition with the plodding, patient industry, 
and low scale of diet of the Chinamen ; and the question of 
the policy of their introduction into Australia is in much the 
same position as the question of the introduction of Coolies 
into the West Indian colonies. The Chinamen always throng 
most into the countries where gold is to be found ; the 
Hindoos are always willing to work, for fair wages, in agri- 
cultural districts. 



510 



CHAPTER III. 



TASMANIA. 



Tasmania, formerly Van Dieman's Land, lies about 120 miles 
south of the south-eastern coast of Australia, from which it is 
separated by Bass's Strait. The island is in shape something 
like a heart or an escutcheon, and is nearly as large as 
Ireland ; its greatest length, from South Cape to Cape Grim, 
is about 230 miles, and its greatest width, from Eddy stone 
Point on the east to West Point, about 200 miles. 

The general character of the country is mountainous and 
Natural undulating, and bears evidence throughout of vol- 
Features, canic action. The mountains, evidently a continua- 
tion of the Australian Alps, are not arranged in distinct 
chains, but are disposed in irregular groups or solitary peaks 
over nearly the whole surface, and their rugged and distorted 
shapes make their proportions seem more colossal than they 
really are. The highest points are Cradle Mountain in the 
west, 5,069 feet, and Ben Lomond in the east, 5,010 feet, and 
from whatever quarter the island is approached, the green- 
stone and basaltic peaks of these mountains, usually capped 
with snow, form the most striking objects. 

In the centre of the island is a table-land, averaging 3,000 
feet above the sea-level, on which are seven lakes, which form 
the source of some of the chief rivers. The Derwent runs 120 
miles, and its estuary is navigable to and above Hobart Town, 
where it is two miles wide, for forty miles from the open sea. 
The Tamar is navigable from the north coast to Launceston 
for forty miles; and the Huon, 110 miles in length, is 
navigable for steamers for nearly thirty miles. Several 
smaller streams also water the land, while thousands of springs 
and cascades glide and dash through the mountain ravines, 



TASMANIA. 511 

and preserve the country fresh and green long after the neigh- 
bouring colonies are parched with drought. 

The vegetation, although similar to that of Australia, is on 
a still more magnificent scale, and the gigantic gum-trees 
{Eucalpytce) clothe the hills from their summits down to the 
water's edge. For an island so thickly wooded there is an 
unusual amount of pasture, owing to the gum-trees casting so 
slight a shade that grass grows freely beneath them. In the 
valleys the turf is of exceeding luxuriance, and the plains 
glow with the warm bright blossoms of the Silver Wattle, a 
sort of acacia, which has been made the emblem of the island ; 
while the browner verdure of the hills is enlivened with 
buttercups, blue speedwell, and little white flowers like English 
daisies. Only about two-fifths of the island are considered 
available for cultivation, and of these three-fourths are pasture- 
ground. 

The coast is mostly high and rocky, excepting on the north, 
and on all sides it forms into bays and capes in which safe 
anchorage may be found. On the south-east there is a 
singular fringe of deep inlets and tortuous harbours, with 
islands and island-like peninsulas. 

Much of the early history of the settlement is so connected 
with crime and disaster, that the name of Van 
Dieman's Land formerly bore a dark significance, byTasman, 
which now happily the more commonly adopted 
name of Tasmania is rapidly losing. Abel Jansen Tasman 
first sighted this land in 1642, and paid compliment to his 
employer Van Dieman, Governor of the Dutch East Com- 
pany, by naming it after him ; and from that time more than 
a century elapsed before Captain Cook again saw it, when on 
his way to Otaheite to observe the transit of Yenus. Cook 
judged the land to be a part of New Holland, and its in- 
sularity was not proved until 1797, when Mr. Bass and 
Captain Flinders were sent out by the Governor of New South 
Wales to explore the coast. They made a dangerous and 
difficult voyage completely round the island in a small sloop, 
and Flinders generously requested that his companion's name 
should be given to the newly-discovered intervening strait. 



512 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALIA. 

Bass and Flinders made a favourable report of the land so 
far as they had seen, and as provisions were scarce 

Convicts, at Sydney Cove, Governor King resolved to plant 
a branch convict settlement in the new island, and 
in 1803 sent out Lieutenant Bowen with some convicts and 
a guard of soldiers to the Derwent. Bowen made choice of 
Eestdown Cove on the east bank, and began clearing the land 
and building huts; but exposure to constant attack from 
the natives, and the want of supplies, reduced the settlers to 
great distress, from which, however, they were opportunely 
relieved by the arrival of Colonel Collins from England, after 
his fruitless attempt to colonise Port Phillip. Collins, being 
invested with supreme authority in the new colony, removed 
the settlement to Sullivan's Cove, and named it Hobart 
Town, in honour of Lord Hobart, then Secretary of State for 
the Colonies. 

During the first years the settlement suffered greatly from 
want of provisions, although supplies were sent from New 
South Wales with each fresh detachment of convicts. Sheep, 
now the staple of the island, then sold for ten guineas a-piece, 
and the chief food was kangaroo, fish, and a sort of sea-weed 
called l Botany Bay greens.' After a time, however, the soil 
began to yield abundantly ; merchant ships began to trade at 
the ports, and free emigrants to settle in the island. Some 
officers in the Marines, and many Crown prisoners at the 
expiration of their term, became landed proprietors, and a 
scarcity of provisions at Norfolk Island drove there many 
farmers and their families, who planted themselves in the 
district now called New Norfolk. The convicts also were 
made especially serviceable to the colony in road and bridge 
making, and the easy terms on which their labour was made 
obtainable was an encouragement to free settlers. 

But, since the convicts of Van Dieman's Land belonged 
Bush- to the most abandoned class of criminals, an evil 

ranging. g p ran g n p which proved in the end fatal to the 
aboriginal population, and most injurious to the colony. 
Many of the convicts, contriving to escape, and being joined 



TASMANIA. 513 

by runaways from Australia, took to the woods, and formed 
themselves into desperate gangs of ' bush-rangers,' who dis- 
persed themselves over the whole country, and not only made 
all life and property unsafe beyond the neighbourhood of the 
towns, but carried on a constant and brutal warfare with the 
natives, shooting them down like wild beasts, and murdering 
whole tribes in order to carry off their women captive. The 
daring exploits told of some of these bush-rangers sound 
more like tales of romance than incidents of real life, and the 
mutual distrust with which these wretches regarded one 
another — in some terrible extremities turning cannibal, and 
killing and eating their comrades — adds unusual horror to the 
accounts of these ruffian gangs. The names of some locali- 
ties in the island, such as Murderers' Plains and Hell Gate, 
are reminders of some of their deeds of outrage and blood- 
shed. 

The infuriated natives naturally could make no distinction 
between friend and foe, but turned their revenge against 
every white man, woman, or child, that they could waylay, 
kill, or torture, and against every white man's stack or farm 
that they could fire or* pillage. At length the very safety of 
the colony seemed threatened, and in 1830 the Government 
systematically interfered, and a singular plan was organised 
for the purpose of exterminating or capturing the aborigines. 
A line of troops was formed across the island, and precisely 
after the fashion of an elephant hunt, gradually moved in an 
unbroken chain towards Tasman's Peninsula, firing and 
making a great noise in order to drive the savages before 
them and then hem them in. But the savages were not to be 
so caught. The broken and rugged nature of the country 
made it easy for them to escape to the rear, and when, after a 
two months' march, at a cost of 30,000/., the troops closed in 
at the narrow neck of the peninsula, the only captive found 
is said to have been one little half-starved boy. 

A better experiment was afterwards made by a Mr. Eobin- 
son, who undertook to conciliate the savages and bring them 
under control by fair means. With Mr. Batman and some 

LL 



514 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

others, he ventured into their retreats, % and by presents and 
promises induced tribe after tribe, to the number of about 200, 
to return with him to Hobart Town, where they were placed 
under the charge of the Government, and from whence they 
were finally shipped off to Flinders' Island, leaving, it would 
appear, only a very few of their race behind them in the 
woods of Tasmania. In 1842 a small party of savages were 
taken off the western coast by some sealers, and were 
treacherously conveyed also to Flinders' Island ; and these 
were supposed to be the very last remnant of the Tasmanian 
race. 

These poor exiles were afterwards removed to Oyster Bay, 

near Hobart Town, where they were placed under 

the the care of an officer, and fed and tended at the 

ongines. annua j yearly cost of 50Z. a-head. At the last 
report there were but fourteen left ; one of the women had 
married an English sawyer, and upon the birth of a son the 
Government gave to this dark lady (Mrs. Cochrane Smith) an 
annuity of 25Z. ; but it is doubted whether at the present 
time there is a single living specimen remaining of the Tas- 
manian aborigines, who with unusual rapidity have followed 
the fate of extermination and decay which seems to be the 
destiny of the savage tribes upon the introduction of the white 
races and civilisation. The Tasmanians appear to have been 
a similar race to the Australians, but with more of the negro 
type, having woolly hair and blacker skins. 

In 1825, Van Dieman's Land was made an independent 
colonv, having until then been subject to New South 

Made a Free - J ' , & . . . . J . 

Settlement, Wales ; and it is interesting to notice among its 
Governors the name of Sir John Franklin, the arctic 
explorer. After transportation to the parent-colony of New 
South Wales had ceased in 1840, this island became the 
largest and almost the only receptacle for the banished 
criminals of the United Kingdom. But, as a consequence, the 
whole colony was thrown into disorder, owing to the number 
of convicts far exceeding the work to be done ; free labourers 
were thrown out of employment, and the idle convicts sank 



TASMANIA. 515 

into depths of depravity which had a demoralising influence 
on the whole community. At length the respectable in- 
habitants petitioned Parliament for the removal of this great 
evil, and in 1852 Tasmania ceased to be a penal settlement, 
except for the convicts already in the island, who are now 
confined to Tasman Peninsula, Maria Island, and Macquarie 
Harbour. 

Tasmania was formerly divided into two counties — Buck- 
ingham in the north, and Cornwall in the south. p resent 
In 1836 a re-division was made into 11 counties; Condition. 
but the divisions commonly recognised are the 19 police 
districts into which the settled parts have been portioned out, 
most of which contain a town or village of the same name. 

Hobart Town, the capital, in the district of Hobarton, is 
beautifully situated on the Derwent, overshadowed by Mount 
Wellington, and is a clean, well-built town. The churches 
and chapels are the most handsome of the public buildings. 
The Government House is an irregular pile, in the midst of 
shrubberies. A new house, commenced by Sir John Franklin, 
has never been completed. 

Launceston, on the Tamar, is the second town of importance, 
and is well adapted for a commercial port. Campbell Town, 
Longford, Eoss, and Carrick are the chief towns in the north ; 
and Eichmond, Brighton, Pontville, and Oaklands are thriving 
townships. 

Tasmania has now a settled population of about 90,000, 
many of whom are wealthy cattle-breeders. 

The present Constitution was framed in 1859, and consists 
of the Governor (salary, 6,500/.), and of a Legislative Council 
and Assembly of Eepresentatives. 

A bishop of Tasmania was appointed in 1842, and the 
diocese includes Norfolk Island : income, 1,400Z. ; clergy, 56. 
Eeligious and charitable institutions are numerous; the 
Government support good schools in Hobart Town and 
Launceston ; and there are various literary and scientific 
institutions. 

li 2 



516 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTKALASIA. 

The chief exports are wool, hides, tallow, bark, oil, sper- 
maceti, grain, fruits, and timber. Coal is known to exist in 
large quantities, and in the hills of the interior have been 
found iron, copper, and lead ; but these minerals have been 
hitherto undeveloped. 



017 



CHAPTER IV. 

NEW ZEALAND. 

More than two centuries ago the name of New Zealand was 
given by the Dutch navigator Tasman to a narrow chain of 
islands lying nearly at our antipodes in the South Pacific 
Ocean, about 1,200 miles to the south-east of Australia. At 
the present time there are few of our Sovereign's dominions 
abroad which bear a closer relation to England than these 
three islands, separated from us by the whole diameter of the 
globe. 

There is no authentic record of the discovery of New 
Zealand before Abel Tasman anchored in a small _ 

. Discovered 

bav on the west coast of the middle island m 1642. by Tasman, 

. 1642 

A promontory, Abel Head, and a place still called 
Massacre Bay, where four of his crew were killed by the 
natives, preserve the memory of his visit. But Tasman was 
not aware that he had discovered a group of islands, and 
imagined the new coast to be part of the Australian continent ; 
and such it was believed to be until Cook sailed round the 
land 120 years afterwards, and proved its insularity. Cook 
stayed many months on the islands, establishing a friendly in- 
tercourse with the natives, whom he found to be a fine and intel- 
ligent although ferocious race of savages, and introduced pigs 
and potatoes and many European seeds and vegetables. The 
account he gave of the beauty and capabilities of the country 
excited great interest ; and, among others, Benjamin Franklin 
was so attracted by it that he published in America a plan for 
the colonisation of New Zealand. But no steps were taken 
towards its settlement, and the place remained unvisited ? 
except by an occasional trading vessel, until the colony at 
Port Jackson was fairly established ; and, as we have seen in 
the introductory sketch, New South Wales became, in some 



518 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

sense, the parent colony to this as to most of the other 
Australasian settlements. 

The New Zealand group consists of two large islands and 

Natural one sma ll er island, which lie together in a curved 
Features. ii ne f 1 ? 200 miles in length, broken by two passages 
of the sea. The mean breadth of the land is 142 miles, and 
the area of the whole is nearly equal to the British Isles. The 
most northerly island is New Ulster or North Island, called 
by the natives Eaheinomauwe ; this is separated by Cook's 
Strait from New Munster or Middle Island, or Tavai-Poena- 
moo ; this is separated by Foveaux Strait from the small island 
of New Leinster, or Stewart's, or South Island. 

The irregular shape of the outline, especially in the north 
island, where peninsulas stretch out in every direction, affords 
abundance of harbours, and gives an extent of coast unusually 
large in proportion to the area. In the north the interior is 
excessively mountainous. The mountains are mostly of the 
igneous class of trap, basalt, and greywacke ; the principal 
chain traverses the two larger isles in the direction of their 
greatest length, that is, north-east and then north-west ; and 
in Ulster, lateral ranges contain lofty volcanic peaks which 
rise to nearly 10,000 feet high, and are covered for two-thirds 
of their height by perpetual snow and glaciers. One of these 
mountains is the active volcano of Tongariro, supposed to be 
the centre of volcanic action in the north, which pours forth 
deluges of boiling water, but has so rich a soil on its flanks 
that plants grow well beneath streams of water of this ex- 
cessive temperature. 

The rivers are chiefly mountain streams, which, rising from 
the eastern and western slopes, run their short distance to 
the sea, and are seldom navigable. The largest rivers have 
their source in extensive lakes which lie in the interior of 
both islands, such as the Hokeanga, the Manawatu, the 
Thames, the Courtenay, the Eakaia, the Waipa, the Wairoa, 
the Waikato, and the Waitangi — the syllable wai meaning 
water. The Manawatu is an especially tortuous stream, and 
the natives have a legend that it was formed by an evil spirit, 



NEW ZEALAND. 519 

in the shape of a huge totari-tree, worming himself along like 
an eel from the east coast to Cook Strait. 

Being in nearly the same latitude south as England is 
north, the climate has much similarity as to tempe- 
rature, but as a rule, the seasons are less marked, 
and the climate is more humid ; rain falls in every month of 
the year, and the land abounds in streams. This excess of 
moisture is not, however, injurious to health, owing to the 
excellent natural drainage of the country, the absence of fogs 
and swamps, and the constant winds. Every part of New 
Zealand is subject to frequent winds and heavy gales. 

The vegetation of New Zealand appears to form a connect- 
ing* link between the Floras of South America, 

. Vegetation. 

Australia, and the Cape Colony ; but of 632 species 
of New Zealand plants already known to botanists, a large 
proportion are ] peculiar to the region. The mountain ridges 
are clothed with giant forests of the Australian pine, the tree- 
fern, and the kauri, a species of pine peculiar to New Zealand, 
and especially valuable for its timber ; but there are extended 
table-lands and hilly tracts, where not a tree is to be seen, 
and which are overrun by enormous ferns and a sort of 
myrtle. The New Zealand flax grows abundantly both on 
mountain and plain. Almost the only native edible vegetable 
is the root of one of the most common of the fern species, 
Pteris esculenta ; but European fruits and vegetables flourish 
well, besides tobacco and the sugar-cane. The most valuable 
of the plants introduced is the potato, which is used exten- 
sively as food by the natives, and is grown for exportation. 

A peculiarity of the islands is the absence of animal life. 
With the exception of a few lizards, a small dog 

« , . ,. ,. . , Animals. 

of the Australian dingo species was apparently 
the only four-footed animal in the country at the first arrival 
of the Europeans ; but hogs, dogs, rats and mice had found 
their way there by the time that the first colonists came, and 
had probably been brought by runaway convicts, or had 
escaped from merchant vessels. The pig has in some remote 
districts become a wild animal, and our European cattle, and 



520 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

even domestic cats, have strayed away into the thick forests, 
and become progenitors of wild races. The other domestic 
animals introduced by white settlers succeed well, especially 
sheep. Of native birds there are scarcely any besides small 
parrots and pigeons ; also a wingless bird, the apteryx, the 
smallest living representation of the ostrich kind; and a sort 
of mocking owl, called by the settlers < More Pork,' from the 
sound resembling these two words, which it repeats for half 
an hour together before dawn. 

Numerous fossil bones of gigantic birds have been found in 
the beds and banks of streams ; for instance, the bones of the 
gigantic Moa, a bird from ten to fourteen feet high, which the 
natives believe to have existed at no very remote period, and 
to have served as food for their ancestors, as well as supplying 
their ancient chiefs with magnificent ornamental plumes from 
the feathers of their head and tail. Some of the largest species 
of moa are even supposed to be living at the present time in 
the inaccessible woods of the interior, and a reported appari- 
tion of one has lately caused some excitement. Another of 
these giant fossil birds is the dinornis giganteus, which 
approaches the lizard type in the shape of its skull; and 
also the palaperyx, which appears allied to the emu of 
Australia. Fossil egg-shells of these birds have also been 
found, so large that ' a hat would have served as an egg-cup 
for one of them.' 

The aborigines are a tall, well-made, muscular, copper- 
coloured race, with glossy curling black hair, and 
the form of the head approaching the European type. 
They are generous and hospitable, but ferocious in the 
extreme when their passions are roused, and formerly they 
were addicted to cannibalism. They are readily civilised, 
show great talent for the mechanical arts, make good farmers 
and seamen, and succeed in various trades. They call them- 
selves Maori, as distinguished from Pakeha (strangers) ; their 
language is a dialect of the Malayan, resembling that spoken 
in the Society and Sandwich Islands, and their own account of 
their origin is that their ancestors, being defeated by another 



NEW ZEALAND. 521 

tribe, fled here from an island called Hawiki (probably 
Owhyee), and brought their dogs with them, and the two 
roots — kumara and taro — which constitute their chief food. 

But the Maori chiefs and the inferior slave class appear to 
belong to two different races. The former are lighter in com- 
plexion, their handsome tattooed faces have even an intellectual 
cast, and the dignified deportment of a New Zealand chieftain, 
as he folds his red blanket around him, may bear comparison 
with that of a Eoman senator with his toga ; whereas the 
slave-class are darker, clumsier in form, and approach much 
nearer to the negro type. The Maori women have commonly 
the charms of symmetry, bright eyes, fine teeth, and sweet 
musical voices; and in tattooing their faces, they take great 
pains to hide wrinkles and blemishes rather than to obscure 
their beauty ; consequently, the elder ladies, especially, persist 
in the fashion of tattooing. The women possess property ot 
their own, and hold a higher position than is usual among 
savage tribes. 

The native religion of New Zealand was fanciful and gloomy, 
rather than idolatrous. Although many of the Maori are 
highly faithful and trustworthy, they appear to have but little 
natural sense of the rights of property, and this creates addi- 
tional difficulty with respect to all questions of sale and pur- 
chase between them and the whites. ' Before honesty was 
invented,' they say, 'they had much less trouble in managing 
their affairs.' As a substitute for all laws for the protection of 
property among themselves, the Maori have a singular custom, 
in common with many other of the South Pacific islanders, of 
pronouncing things to be ' tapu,' or ' taboo,' that is, not to be 
touched; and by attaching the heaviest penalties to the 
infringement of this taboo, they preserve their houses, canoes, 
and plantations from pillage. 

The superiority of the Maories over the usual savage tribes has 
created a peculiar difficulty in the colonisation of New Zealand. 
Elsewhere the natives have rapidly disappeared before the ad- 
vance of the whites ; here the natives possess in themselves the 
elements of a great people, and settlement among them has 



522 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

consequently not been a simple taking possession by right of the 
strongest, and in no other colony has there been so remarkable a 
balance of power between the white and the aboriginal races. 
Before the arrival of the Europeans, the natives were divided 
into many tribes, each having their own separate territories, and 
governed by their own chiefs. They cultivated the land, and 
built villages on the hills, fortifying them with ditches and 
fences. They had large war-canoes, and the wars between the 
tribes were carried on with excessive ferocity; they ate their 
prisoners ; and when they had learned the use of fire-arms from 
the whites, the slaughter among themselves was so great that 
it is thought probable that the influence of the missionaries 
alone saved the whole race from extermination. 

In the introductory sketch the steps have been traced by 
Early which New Zealand became a British colony in 
Settlement. 1840. The whale fishery first attracted vessels from 
New South Wales to the Bay of Islands on the east coast; 
while the native flax attracted settlers to the west coast. 
Then came sealers, chiefly to the middle island ; and, mean- 
while, escaped convicts and runaway sailors took refuge in 
the country, and formed a white population of the lowest kind, 
who seized what land they could lay hands on, and lived in 
perpetual conflict with the natives. Then followed mission- 
aries, who gained great influence over the Maori, and paved 
the way for a better class of settlers. Soon regular trade was 
opened with New South Wales, and, at the request of the 
native chiefs — as some safeguard from the outrages of the 
vagabond class of whites — the island, in 1833, was "placed 
in some sort under British protection, and a consul was sent 
out, with magisterial powers subordinate to the Sydney 
Government. 

In 1835 the North island was disturbed by the pro- 
ceedings of a French adventurer, one Baron de Thierry, who 
established himself in Hokianga with a few followers, and 
announced himself as King of Nuhuwah, one of the Marquesas 
Islands, and sovereign chief of New Zealand. The Baron was 
soon deserted by his comrades, and left the country ; but this 



NEW ZEALAND. 523 

French intrusion, together with the disorderly state of the 
settlement, first induced the colonists to petition William IV. 
that the place should be constituted a British colony under 
regular government. 

Meantime, an English settler arrived in London who had 
bought an immense tract of land in North Island, and _ T _ 

& ? New Zea- 

now wished to dispose of it. This circumstance led land Com- 
to the formation of a New Zealand Company, under pa ' 
the auspices of the Earl of Durham and the great houses of 
Baring, Goldsmid, and other leading merchants, who pur- 
chased the land, and, in 1839, sent out 5,000 emigrants, and 
founded first Wellington, and then many other settlements in 
Ulster and Munster — buying additional tracts of the native 
chiefs. But the purchase of these additional lands involved 
the company in endless difficulty, in consequence of its not 
being at all clear who had the right to sell the land. The 
native wars had in many cases violently transferred lands 
from one tribe to another, and after the conquerors had sold 
the land, the conquered disputed their title, and were perfectly 
wi]ling to fight for their own over again. Besides which, the 
chiefs were very apt to sell their land twice over, and, after 
they had received from the company a fair price for their 
acres, were often proved by former settlers to have already 
sold the same piece to themselves for a few tobacco pipes or 
blankets. 

It was no wonder, therefore, that the company could give 
little satisfaction either to natives or colonists, and Trans- 
in 1840 a formal compact, known as the Treaty of thlfcrown 
Waitangi, was made between the Maori chiefs and 184 °- 
the British Government, by which the sovereignty of the 
islands was transferred to Queen Victoria, and the land dif- 
ficulty was adjusted by the Crown assuming as its own 
property the middle and larger island, which was but thinly 
peopled, and recognising the native ownership in the northern 
isle, where the aborigines were the most numerous ; at the 
same time, reserving to itself sole power of selling land to the 
colonists, and allowing the native chiefs only to sell land to 



524 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

the Government. Captain Hobson was sent out as first 
Governor, and fixed the site of the future capital of Auckland 
on a neck of land between the harbours of Waitemata and 
Manukao. But violent disputes arose between the natives, 
the company, and the Governor ; and the New Zealanders 
being always on the alert to break out into open warfare 
whenever they saw any symptoms of strife among the Eu- 
ropeans, the country again became the scene of confusion and 
conflict — until order and security were restored by Sir George 
Grey, formerly Governor of the Cape and of South Australia, 
who assumed the administration of New Zealand in 1845. 

In 1852 the New Zealand Company resigned its claims, re- 
ceiving compensation for their outlay. From that time the 
colony greatly prospered. The natives mixed freely with the 
English, lived among them, founded towns, built churches, 
adopted European improvements, had newspapers of their own , 
and put money in the bank ; and there was scarcely a Maori 
to be found who could not read and write. But the very 
prosperity of the colony unhappily gave rise to fresh land dis- 
. . putes. The value of land rose as immigration in- 
of present creased and roads and building made progress, and 
ispu ^ e chiefs were jealous at the Government ' receiving 

sovereigns for the acres which they themselves had sold for 
shillings,' not perceiving that the increased profit was due to 
those who had created the increased value, This jealousy, con- 
sequent upon the Government being an intermediate party in 
the sale of land, and acting with more or less justice to native 
claims, has been a main cause of conflict in New Zealand up 
to the present time. 

Added to this source of discontent, intercourse with Europe- 
ans had aroused a strong sentiment of nationality in the Maories, 
and they longed to be an independent people under a monarch 
of their own. Accordingly, a ' king party ' rapidly ' gained 
ground amongst them, and made their first demonstration by 
hoisting a national flag, and proclaiming Te Whero Whero 
sovereign of New Zealand, under the title of King Potatau. 
This Te Whero had formerly been a turbulent chief of the 



NEW ZEALAND. 525 

tribe of Waikatos, who by his conquests and wholesale 
slaughters had spread such devastation among other native 
tribes that they had been forced to seek European protection 
from his violence. 

In I860, another insurrection 'of the natives, headed by a 
chief named William King, or Wirrimu Kingi, arising out of 
disputes respecting the sale of land, ended in open warfare in 
the district of Taranaki, and a force of 5,000 English troops 
were stationed in the island for its defence. In 1861 the war 
was quelled ; but a discontented party remained, and a native 
sovereign was proclaimed ; and this disaffected l king party/ 
who refuse either to return to British allegiance, or to allow 
the land to be farther opened for roads or useful purposes, are 
the source of the greatest embarrassment to the present 
governor, Sir George Grey. Notwithstanding hostilities, how- 
ever, our nation's grief at the loss of the Prince- Consort had its 
sympathisers among these most remote of our fellow- subjects, 
and the Maori chiefs drew up a poetical address of condolence 
to the Queen in 1862. 

New Zealand is at present divided into nine provinces, 
viz. : 



Sew Ulster. 


New Muxster. 


Counties 
and Towns. 


Auckland, 


Nelson, 




Taranaki, 


Marlborough, 




Wellington, 
Hawke's Bay. 


Canterbury, 

Otago, 

Southlands. 





Auckland, 400 miles in length and 200 miles in breadth, 
is the most northerly and the largest of the provinces, and was 
the most populous until the late discovery of gold in Otago 
diverted the chief tide of emigration to that district. From 
its northerly position the climate of Auckland is the warmest 
in New Zealand, and is well suited for agricultural and farm- 
ing operations. The land is rich and fertile in parts, but is 
still much covered with fern and shrubs. It has extensive 
pine forests and numerous rivers. The capital, Auckland, is 



526 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

a thriving town on the estuary of the small river Thames, and 
was made the seat of government for the colony in 1840. Ke- 
cently Auckland has been constituted the head-quarters of the 
troops for all the Australasian settlements. 

Taranaki, or New Plymouth, the western province of New 
Ulster, has been called the Devonshire of New Zealand, from 
the picturesque beauty of the country, and its fine soil and 
climate. Coal and iron are reported to abound in the dis- 
trict. New Plymouth, the capital, stands on the west coast, 
near the mountain of Taranaki or Mount Egmont. The set- 
tlement was founded in 1841. 

Hawke's Bay, the eastern province of the north island, 
offers especial advantages for sheep-farming from its extensive 
plains and genial climate. The capital is Napier, on Hawke's 
Bay. 

Wellington, the southerly province of New Ulster, is a 
large wool-producing country. Shocks of earthquake are 
occasionally felt in this district. The chief town, Wellington, 
stands on the harbour of Port Nicholson on Cook Strait. 
Wellington is the oldest of the settlements, and was founded 
by the New Zealand Company in 1839. 

Nelson is the most northerly province of New Munster. 
Only a small proportion of the land is fit for cultivation, and 
sheep-farming has hitherto been the staple occupation. It has 
the advantage of numerous deep harbours, and mines of coal, 
copper, and iron. Nelson, the capital, stands on Blind Bay, 
an arm of Cook Strait. Settlement founded 1841. 

Marlborough, on the north-east of New Munster, is a wild 
and thinly-peopled country, and has been settled chiefly by 
sheep-farmers. On the north it is densely wooded, and the coast 
is indented with harbours of remarkable depth ; one of them, 
Queen Charlotte's Sound, being twenty-five miles long. The 
capital is Picton. 

Canterbury is the centre province of the Middle Island. 
The settlement was founded in 1849 by Lord Lyttelton and 
other influential persons as a Church -of- England colony. 
The land is well watered and traversed by a range of moun- 



NEW ZEALAND. 527 

tains, between which and the sea lie the Canterbury Plains. 
Sheep are extensively pastured. Christchurch is the chief 
inland town ; and Lyttelton, on Pegasus Bay, is the shipping 
port. 

Otago was founded in 1846 by several members of the Free* 
Church of Scotland. The province until lately occupied the 
whole of the southern part of the Middle Island. A discovery 
of gold mines in 1861 led to a great immigration from England 
and all the Australian colonies, and, as in Victoria, has tended 
to the rapid advance of the settlement, although injurious for 
a time to its pastoral interests. The little village capital of 
Dunedin, which is about seventy miles from the diggings, has 
been converted into a bustling, prosperous town. 

Southlands is enclosed on all sides, except its coast-line, by 
the province of Otago, and was formed out of that settlement 
in 1861. The capital is Invercargill. 

By the last census of 1862, the European population of New 
Zealand was 109,209, including 1,128 half-castes; 

, ./.a,? n . n -, Population. 

the aborigines were only 50,049, and are evidently 
on the decrease. When the Maories first became known to 
Captain Cook they were a peculiarly healthy and vigorous 
race ; but many European maladies have now become pre- 
valent among them, which are attributed to the introduction 
of ardent spirits and tobacco, and to their partial adoption of 
English clothing and blankets. 

The present Constitution came into operation in 1853. The 
Government is composed of a Governor (salary, Govern . 
3,500Z.), and three Judges, nominated by the ment - 
Crown, with a Legislative Council of twenty leading colonists, 
nominated by the Governor, for life. The House of Eepre- 
sentatives consists of forty members, elected by the people for 
five years — qualification for voting being the possession of a 
freehold worth 50Z., or the payment of house-rent of 61. per 
annum in the country, or 10Z. per annum in the town. Each 
province has, besides, its own Superintendent and Provincial 
Council, whose functions are to frame laws relating to immi- 
gration, sale of lands, making roads, levying taxes, &c. 



528 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

The bishopric of New Zealand was founded in 1841 : 
Religion mcome > 6007.; clergy, sixty-five. The Establish- 

and ment is represented by fire bishops, of whom the 
Bishops of Christ Church, Nelson, Wellington, and 
Whaiapua, are suffragan to the metropolitan of New Zealand. 
The adherents of the Church of England are by far the most 
numerous class; next, the Scotch Presbyterians; next, the 
Soman Catholics ; and last, the Wesleyans. New Zealand is 
a solitary instance of a heathen race having been rapidly 
brought under the influence of Christianity ; and that their 
conversion is not merely nominal is proved by the abolition 
of infanticide, polygamy, and many barbarous observances, 
by their erection of churches, attendance at public worship, 
and study of the Scriptures, which have been printed in the 
Maori language. There are numerous schools belonging to the 
different denominations, some industrial and others educa- 
tional, both for European and Maori children. 

The chief exports are wool, hides, oil, whalebone, flax, and 

staple hemp. Eecently, fresh gold discoveries have been 
Exports, made in the Coromandel district of Auckland, said 
to be of enormous extent and value ; and the gold of New 
Zealand is now pouring into Melbourne for transhipment to 
London, and into the Australian Mint at Sydney for coinage. 
Besides gold, the islands furnish coal, copper, iron, and other 
minerals; and lately has been discovered a new and valuable 
article of export in the steel sand at the foot of Mount 
Egmont, which is reported to be more perfect than the steel 
manufactured by human art. 



529 



CHAPTER Y. 

ISLANDS IN THE SOUTHERN SEAS. 
NORFOLK ISLAND. 

Amidst the crowd of small islands scattered over the South 
Pacific is a group lying 1,200 miles east of Sydney. These 
islands were first seen by Captain Cook in 1774, and the 
largest of them he named Norfolk Island, in honour of the 
Howard family, descendants of the Duke of Norfolk. The 
island was uninhabited and entirely covered with trees ; and 
Cook says, ( Undoubtedly we were the first men that ever set 
foot upon it.' 

Norfolk Island is only 7 miles long and 3 or 4 miles broad ; 
its surface is undulated like the sea in a storm, long Natura i 
narrow ranges of hills alternating with long narrow Features. 
gullies; its shores are steep and rugged, and the Pacific 
thunders unceasingly against their abrupt barrier ; no objects 
are in sight but two barren rocks, Nepean Island and Philip 
Island. But within these desolate shores the land is a perfect 
garden of beauty, where orange and lemon groves mingle their 
bright green with the softer hues of the tree-fern, and with 
endless flowering shrubs and graceful parasitic plants, which 
twine and luxuriate in the warm fertile soil ; the whole being 
crowned by forests of the stately Norfolk pine (araucaria 
excelsa), which here lifts its dark foliage to a height of 
200 feet. This desolate and beautiful spot was selected by 
the British Government as an ultra-penal settlement, banish- 
ment to which was the severest punishment, short of death, 
that could be inflicted on any criminal. 

The place was first settled in 1788. Captain Cook had 
observed that the New Zealand flax grew there 
abundantly ; accordingly, the Governor of New 
South Wales received orders to form a settlement for the 

M M 



530 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

cultivation of the plant, and several convicts and free 
settlers were sent out with, implements for flax-dressing; 
besides which an attempt was afterwards made to convert the 
island into a food-producing settlement for the supply of 
Sydney Cove. But it was found that the produce was barely 
sufficient for its own population — who at one time were only 
saved from perishing by a flight of aquatic birds, which alighted 
on the island to lay their eggs ; and finally, the settlers were 
removed to Van Dieman's Land. 

In 1831 the island was again occupied as a place of punishment 
for the most desperate class of offenders, such as appeared irre- 
claimable and were dangerous to their overseers; and the 
extreme rigour of the discipline, the solitude of the place, and 
the hopelessness of escape, made servitude in Norfolk Island a 
more dreaded penalty to most criminals than death itself. It 
was here that Captain Maconochie tried his benevolent system 
of mitigated punishment, by allowing prisoners to work out 
their own pardon by earning a certain number of good marks ; 
but this system was abandoned, and the rigid discipline 
resumed. The island is still the seat of a convict establish- 
ment for the worst class of criminals, who were sentenced 
there for life, although the transportation of fresh convicts 
has ceased for many years. 

The administration of the island is intrusted to the Governor 
of Tasmania, and the prisoners are under the same supervision 
as those at Hobart Town. The chief residents in the place 
are the civil and military officers, who live in white cottages 
with lawns and shrubberies. The chief buildings are the 
prisoners' and military barracks, the Government House, and 
a Protestant and Eoman Catholic chapel. A few farms are 
scattered about the island. 

CHATHAM ISLANDS. 

When Captain Vancouver in H.M.S. Discovery was on his 

way to explore the north-west coast of America in 

' 1791, his companion, Lieutenant Broughton, who 

commanded the ship Chatham, discovered a group of islands 



CHATHAM ISLES. 531 

about 386 miles to the east of New Zealand, to which he 
gave the name of his ship, and anchoring in a small bay, 
proclaimed them to be British territory in the name of 
George III. The natives did not admire this proceeding, 
and an affray ensued, in which one native was killed and two 
Englishmen wounded, and Broughton re-embarked, leaving 
behind him a few presents by way of reconciliation. From 
that time the islands were frequently visited by whalers, and 
in 1840 the New Zealand Company made a whaling station 
on the coast, and in the following year announced that they 
had purchased the islands of the natives, and intended to 
resell them to i parties officially connected with Hamburg 
and other free cities of Germany.' But the claim of the 
Company was disallowed by Government, and the islands 
were soon afterwards constituted a dependency of the Crown, 
under charge of the Governor of New Zealand. 

The Chatham group consists of one large island, Chatham 
or Warekauri, two smaller islands, Pyramid and Natural 
Cornwallis, and several islets. Chatham is some- Features, 
thing in the form of a hammer with a short handle, and is 
about thirty-six miles long from east to west. A large salt- 
water lake occupies about a sixth of the island, and the 
country, slightly hilly, has a pleasant aspect. The climate, 
although stormy, is mild and healthy. The vegetation is 
similar to that of New Zealand ; the swampy soil yields 
abundance of pumpkins, which compose the chief food of 
the natives ; and when drained is well suited to wheat, pota- 
toes, and other vegetables. There is no native quadruped 
but the Norwegian rat, but birds are numerous, and the 
black and spermaceti whales swarm about the shores. 

The aborigines were a harmless race of Malays, called 
Paraiwhara. They and their islands were un- inhabitants. 
known to the New Zealanders until a European ship 
brought tidings of them in 1838 ; upon which a band of 
Maories at Port Nicholson seized an English brig and per- 
suaded the captain to convey them to Chatham, where they 
soon overcame the inhabitants, killing some and making 

mm 2 



532 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

slaves of others. The language of the natives was perfectly 
intelligible to the New Zealanders, and, except for the absence 
of the tattooing, there was much similarity between the two 
people. This first race is now almost extinct, and the usurping 
tribe compose the inhabitants, who cultivate wheat, and 
export it to New Zealand. The islands are of value to Eng- 
land as whaling and sealing stations. 

Even here missionaries have planted themselves in the 
interior and show good fruits from their labours. The islands 
form part of the diocese of New Zealand, and Maori converts 
have been sent over, who are reported to succeed well in the 
instruction of the natives ; besides which there is a German 
missionary station established on the east side, where a wind- 
mill as well as small chapel are visible signs of civilisation. 

AUCKLAND ISLANDS. 

In the stormy ocean south of New Zealand, at the distance 

of about 180 miles, there is a small volcanic group consisting 

of one large island and several islets, all of them densely 

covered with thickets of stunted shrubs. These 

Settlement. n .. 

islands were first touched upon by a Captain Briscoe, 
agent of Mr. Enderby, when coursing the South Seas on a 
whaling expedition in 1806. He found them uninhabited, 
took possession in the name of the Crown, naming them after 
Lord Auckland, President of the Board of Trade, and left- 
there a few pigs. In 1847 the islands were granted by 
Government for a term of thirty years to the Messrs. Enderby, 
a^London firm then engaged in the whale and seal fisheries, 
in^ponsideration of the services of their father, Mr. Enderby, 
and-ihe further discoveries of their agent, Captain Briscoe, in 
the South Seas. The islands were afterwards sub -let to the 
Southern Whale Fishing Company, who made a first settle- 
ment upon them in 1849, and appointed Mr. Charles Enderby 
Lieutenant-Governor and commissioner for the Company. 

When Mr. Enderby arrived to take possession, he found 
that about seventy New Zealanders had already been settled 



AUCKLAND ISLANDS. 533 

there for about eight years under two of their chiefs, who had 
come from Chatham Island in a colonial vessel, and had paid 
150 pigs for their passage. Fifty more pigs had been brought 
by them into the island, and these, added to the stock which 
Captain Briscoe had left more than thirty years before, had 
multiplied exceedingly. Some plots also of the shrubby 
ground the Maories had managed to clear and cultivate ; and 
they found the climate pleasant, even with their scanty amount 
of clothing. These settlers, however, made no hesitation 
about surrendering their land-plots and pigs to the English 
Governor, in return for a small sum of money and the liberty 
of gathering their crops, and became exceedingly useful as 
labourers and boatmen. The two chiefs were made into 
constables, and were so vigilant in preserving order, that when 
a complaint was brought against one of them that his dogs had 
killed a sheep, he immediately hung seven of them. 

The principal island, Auckland, is about 30 miles long, and 
has a sombre aspect from the prevalence of a dark- Natural 
evergreen shrub, veronica elliptica, to which there Features. 
is nothing analogous in the northern hemisphere. It grows 
to the height of 20 or 30 feet, and then, probably gnarled by 
the gales, bends its head to the ground and again shoots 
upwards, rendering the woods impassable with its looped 
branches. Most of the flowers are natives of the New Zealand 
mountains, and, except that there are no beeches or pines, the 
vegetation is a continuation of that of New Zealand, with an 
approach in its smaller plants to that of antarctic regions. 
Although in a corresponding latitude to England, only three 
of our native plants are found there, viz. the water- star wort, 
water chickweed, and hairy ladies' smock. There appear to be 
no native animals ; but rabbits and goats abound, and cattle 
and horses pasture well on the natural grasses. At present the 
wealth of the islands is in the black and hump-backed whales, 
and the hairy and lurry seals which frequent the bays. 

The white population includes only the Governor, surgeon, 
and servants of the Company. Nevertheless, Auckland has 



534 POSSESSIONS IN AUSTRALASIA. 

already its semi- detached cottages, warehouse, gaol, wharf, and 
even savings' bank. 



The bold enterprise of English merchants and captains of 
whalers have contributed much of late years to our knowledge 
of the other islands in the southern seas ; and several of them, 
unappropriated by other nations and some of them unin- 
habited, lie so contiguous to British possessions that England 
claims a sort of right over them as fishing and whaling 
stations. Such are the Campbell Isles, to the south-east of 
the Aucklands ; Macquarie Isle, the most southerly of the 
Australasian groups ; the Bounty Isles, discovered by Captain 
Bligh ; and Antipodes Isle, so called from its position with 
regard to London. 

LANDS OF VICTORIA BEYOND THE POLAR CIRCLES. 

Within the Antarctic Ocean lies a land to which the name 
of our Sovereign has been given, and which forms the extreme 
limit of southern discovery. On the 12th of January, 1841, 
Sir James Eoss first landed upon a shore of the Polar Sea, near 
70° 41' S. lat., and took possession of the land in the name of 
the Queen, calling it South Victoria. In the distance he 
beheld the fire and smoke issuing from the volcano of Mount 
Erebus, 12,400 feet high, and the stupendous crystallised peaks 
of the Parry Mountains, which, standing about 760 miles from 
the Pole, are the most southerly objects that have hitherto met 
the human eye. The land thus discovered probably forms the 
northern boundary of that vast unknown volcanic region of 
perpetual ice which apparently lies at the centre of the southern 
hemisphere. 

On the 20th of June, 1854, Dr. Kane stood on the north 
coast of Greenland, about 520 miles from the North Pole, upon 
the shore of an iceless sea, which, from the swell of its waves 
and the ebb and flow of its tides, apparently rolls its waters 
in one unbroken expanse from the Pole. Beyond him stood 



LANDS OF VICTORIA BEYOND THE POLAR CIRCLE. 535 

Mount Parry, in the Victoria range, the most remote northern 
land known upon our globe. 

Thus the names of England's Queen and of the great pioneer 
of arctic discovery have been coupled together at the two ends 
of the earth; and it remains to be seen whether Anglo-Saxon 
enterprise will plant the British flag, or extend even nominally 
British dominion still farther, either into the lifeless continent 
of the South, or into the yet unexplored seas of the North. 



INDEX. 



ABA 

ABACO, 451 
Aberdeen, 123, 145, 152, 163 

— University of, 148 
Aberdovey, 172 
Abergele, 172 
Aberystwith, 171 
Abolition of slavery, 443 
Acacia, 481 

Acadia, 396 
Acadians, 397, 401 
Accra, 336 
Achil Isle, 87 
Adelaide, 500 
Aden, 29, 317 
Afghans, 255 
Afghan war, 255 
African Colonies, 324 

— Slave trade, 325 
Agra, 290 

Ahmedabad, 11, 277 
Ahmednuggar, 277 
Aire, river, 55 

Akbar, Emperor, 224, 248 

Alban, St., 110 

Albion, 88 

Aldermen, 129 

Alderney, 83, 126 

Alexander's invasion of India, 220 

Alfred the Great, 3 

Alice Holt Forest, 65 

Allahabad, 290 

Allen, bog of, 61 

Alpaca, 483 

Alum Bay, 81 



ARK 
America, discovery of, 8 
American Colonies, 359 

— war, 376 
Amoy, 321 
Andros, 451 
Anglesea, 78 
Anglo-Saxons, 94 

— chronicles, 94 

— language, 101 
Anguilla, 456 
Angus, 124 
Annamabo, 338 
Annapolis, 397 
Antigua, 453 
Antilles, 431 
Antipodes Isle, 534 
Antonine Itinerary, 93 
Antrim, 124 
Appleby, 120 
Apples, 66 

Aracan, 27, 295 
Arbutus, 62 
Archbishops, 137 
Archbishoprics, 138 
Arcot, 285, 282 
Arden, forest of, 64 
Argyle, 124, 145 
Arkwright, 154 
Armagh, 124 
Army of England, 195 

— India, 300 
Arran Isles, 87, 40 
Arrowawks, 431 
Arrowroot, 417, 445, 468 



538 



INDEX. 



ASC 

Ascension, 354 
Ashantees, 336 
Ashburton treaty, 403 
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 178 
Ashton, 153 

Asia, possessions in, 217 
Asiatic Society, 275 
Assam, 269 
Assize courts, 118 
Athelstan, King, 3 
Attar of roses, 228 
Auckland Isles, 31, 532 

— New Zealand, 525 
Augustin, St., Ill 
Australasia, 23, 478 
Australia, 478 
Australian Alps, 479 
Australia Felix, 491 
Austral negroes, 483 
Avon, 121, 175 
Axminster, 152 
Ayrshire, 123, 156 

BAFFIN, William, 419 
Bahamas, 430, 450 
Bahar, 273 
Bala, lake, 57 
Ballarat, 495 
Banff, 123 
Bangor, 143, 172 
Banksia, 481 
Bann, river, 60 
Bantam, 11, 275 
Barbados, 13, 459 
Barbuda, 453 
Bardsey Isle, 86 
Barker, Captain, 498 
Barmouth, 172 
Barrier Eeef, 479 
Barrow, river, 60 
Bass, Mr., 492, 511 
Bassenthwaite, 57 
Basseterre, 455 
Bath, 140, 175 
Bathurst, Africa, 328 

— Australia, 490 
Battle, 168 

Bay Islands, 472 
Bayeux tapestry, 97 



BOR 
Beachy Head, 169 
Bear Isle, 87 
Beaumaris, 79, 121 
Bede, 94 
Bedford, 121 
Bees-wax, 334 
Belfast, 163 
Belgse, 91 
Belize, 471 
Bell Rock, 77 
Bellary, 281 
Benares, 23, 290 
Bengal, 22, 264 
Ben Nevis, 57 

Bentinck, Lord William, 254 
Berar, 295 
Berbice, 472 
Berkshire, 119 
Bermudas, 14, 415 
Berry Isles, 451 
Berwick, 123 
Betel-nut, 306, 316 
Bhangulpoor, 266 
Bhats, 240 
Bhils, 239 
Bhootan, 264 
Bhopal, 298 
Bhurtpoor, 298 
Bilston, 156 
Bird Isles, 402 
Birds' nests, 316 
Birmingham, 115 
Bishops, 137 
Bishoprics, 139 
Bishop Blaize, 151 
Blackburn, 153 
Black Hole, Calcutta, 21 
Blackpool, 173 
Blackwater River, 60 
Blasket Isles, 87 
Blue Mountains, 437 
Bogragh Mountains, 60 
Bogs, Irish, 61 
Bolton, 153 
Bombay, 12, 234, 275 

— Proper, 277 

— City, 277 
Borneo, 316 
Boroughs, 128 



INDEX. 



539 



EOT 
Botany Bay, 24 
Bounty Isles, 534 
Bournemouth, 170 
Boyne, river, 60 
Bradford, 152 
Brahminism, 246 
Brahmapootra, 232 
Brechin, 145 
Brecknock, 122 
Bridgwater Canal, 188 
Bridgetown, 460 
Bridlington, 174 
Brigantes, 114 
Brighton, 169 
Brion Isles, 402 
Brisbane, 507 
Bristol, 159 
Britain, 88 

— early divisions of, 114 

— Eoman occupancy of, 93 

— Eoman divisions of, 114 
British Empire, area and popula- 
tion, 33 

British Isles, 36 ; climate, 37 ; area, 
38 ; geology of, 41 ; minerals, 

E47 ; vegetation, 62 ; animals, 69 ; 
inhabitants, 88; languages, 100; 
religious beliefs, 104 ; govern- 
ment, 192 ; population, 197; re- 
venue, 195 
British Columbia, 423 

— Kafraria, 32, 351 

— G-uiana, 472 

— Honduras, 469 

— India, 250 ; area, 298 ; popula- 
tion, 300 ; divisions, 263 ; go- 
vernment, 299 ; income, 300 ; 
army, 300 ; transferred to the 
Crown, 261 

— Museum, origin, 439 

— North America, extent, 359 ; 
surface, 360 ; flora, 361 ; ani- 
mals, 362; aborigines, 364 

Broach, 277 
Bryher Isle, 80 
Buccaneers, 433 
Buckingham, 121, 127 
Buddhism, 222, 247, 296 
Bundelcund States, 298 



CAN 

Burdwan, 273 
Burke, E. O'Hara, 486 
Burmah, British, 295 
Burmese war, 255 
Burslem, 157 
Bury, 153 
Bushmen, 342 
Bushrangers, 512 
Bute, 77, 123 
Buttermere, 57 
Butter-nut, 390 
Buxton, 177 

pABOT, John and Sebastian, 7, 

\J 370 

Cabul, 255 

Caermarthen, 122 

Caernarvon, 121 

Caesar, invasion by, 92 

Caithness, 58 

Calcutta, 12, 264, 271, 274 

Caldy Isle, 86 

Caledonian Canal, 189 

Calf of Man, 78 

Calicut, 285 

Calvert, Sir G-eorge, 15 

Cambaya, 11 

Cambrian language, 100 

— Mountains, 42, 55 
Cambridge, 121 

— University, 159 
Campbell, Sir Colin, 260, 292 

— Isles, 534 
Campbellton, 490 
Camphor, 316 

Canada, 365 ; area, 365 ; climate, 
365 ; mountains, 366 ; lakes 
and rivers, 367; productions, 
368 ; population, 384 ; govern- 
ment, 391 ; railways, 389 ; sta- 
ple products, 390 

— West, 365, 367 
counties, 378 

— East, 365, 366 

districts, 380 

Canals, English, 189 

— Canadian, 386 
Canara, 281 
Candeish, 277 



540 



IJSDEX. 



CAN 
Canning, Lord, 259, 261 
Canterbury, 111, 138, 139 

— New Zealand, 526 
Canvey Isle, 86 
Cape Breton, 400 

— Coast Castle, 335 

— Colony, 340 ; counties, 346 ; 
population, 346 ; government, 
347 

— Comorin, 226 

— of Good Hope, 26 

— Town, 347 
Carboniferous strata, 42 
Cardiff, 122 
Cardigan, 121 
Caribs, 432 
Caribbees, 430 
Cariboo, 424 
Carlisle, 120, 144 
Carlow, 125 
Carnatic, 251 
Carolina, North, 13 
Carolina, South, 16 
Carrick, 125 
Carteret, Sir George, 17 
Cashel, 144 

Cashmere, 228, 231, 298 
Caskets, the, 84 
Cassiterides, 48 

Caste, system of, 246 
Castlebar, 125 
Castleton, 78 
Castor-oil- nut, 438 
Castries, 481 
Catholic Church, 144 

— emancipation, 113 
Cavan, 124 
Cavendish, Sir T., 8 
Cawnpore, 292 
Caymanas, 449 
Cedars of Bermuda, 415 
Celtic races in England, 90 

— worship, 104 

— languages. 100 
Census of 1861, 197 
Central America, 469 
Central Provinces, 295 
Cephalonia, 214 
Ceylon, 27, 302 



COA 
Chalk, 44 

Channel Isles, 4, 83 
Charity schools, origin, 149 
Charlemagne, treaty with Offa, 3 
Charlestown, 16 
Charlestown, Nevis, 455 
Charlotte Town, 409 
Chatham, 165 
Chatham Isles, 530 
Chelmsford, 119 
Cheltenham, 176 
Cherries, 66 
Cheshire, 52 
Cheshunt College, 149 
Chester, 120, 144 
Cheviot Hills, 55 
Chicali, 285 
Chichester, 119, 141 
China, British relations with, 

318 
Chippeways, 386 
Chittagong. 271 
Chorley, 153 
Chota Nagpore, 273 
Christianity, first introduced into 

England, 110; Scotland, 111; 

Ireland, 111 
Christchurch, 147 
Christchurch, New Zealand, 527 
Church of England, 137 

— Ireland, 144 

— Scotland, 145 
Cinchona, 230, 507 
Cinnamon, 312 
Cinque Ports, 166 
Circars, 23 
Cis-Sutlej States, 286 

City, term when applied, 128 
Civita Vecchia, 211 
Clackmannan, 123 
Clare, 49, 125 
Clevedon, 171 
Clevedon Hill, 44 
Clifton, 176 
Clive, Eobert, 20 
Clonmell, 125 
Cloves, 315 
Clyde, river, 59 
Coaches introduced, 183 



INDEX. 



541 



COA 

Coal, 42, 50, 160, 227, 395 

— districts of England, 43 
: — districts of Scotland. 46 
Coalbrooke Dale, 43 

Coast towns of England, 165 
Cochin, 282 
Cocoa, 229, 306 
Cod fishery, 413 
Cod-liver oil, 413 
Code Noir, 441 
Codrington, Colonel, 453 
Coffee, 312, 435 
Coimbatore, 282 
Coinage. British, 196 
Colaba Islands, 277 
Colombo, 311 

Colonies, value to England, 34 
Colmnba, St., Ill 
Columbus, 6, 431 
Commeragh mountains, 60 
Commerce, beginning of, 3 
Compass, mariner's, 6 
Concan, 277 
Coniston Water, 57 
Connaught, 124 
Connemara Mountains, 60 
Constitution, British, 192 
Convict transportation, 14, 24 

— settlements, 416, 503 
Convocation of clergy, 138 
Cook, Captain, 23 
Coolies. 239 

Coorg, 282, 284 
Copper, 49, 226, 368 
Coquet Isle. 86 
Corfu. 214 
Cork, 125, 144, 164 
Cornelians, 226 
Cornwall, 120 

— Jamaica, 446 
Cornwallis, Lord, 24, 267 
Cornwallis, 531 
Coromantines, 441 
Coroner, 117 

Corporations, municipal, 128 
Corporation and Test Acts, repeal 

of, 113 
Cotswold Hills, 55 
Cotton, 19, 229, 334, 348, 508 



DEM 
Cotton trade, 153. 234 

— mills, first, 154 
Counties, origin of. 115 

— English, 119 

— Welsh, 121 

— Scotch, 123 

— Irish, 124 

County government, 116 

— towns, 129 
Coventry, 155, 157 
Creoles, 448 
Cromarty, 123 
Crooked Isle. 451 
Crummock Water, 57 
Crusades, 5, 435 
Cuddapah, 282 
Culdees, 111 
Culver Cliff, 81 
Cumberland, 56, 120 
Cumbrian Mountains, 55 
Cupar, 123 

Curran Eual Mountain, 60 
Currant vines, 214 
Customs Inspectorate, 321 
Cutch, 233, 279 
Cuttack, 266 

— Mahals, 298 
Cymri, 90 



p.ACCA, 273 

J > Dagobas, 305 

Dahomey, King of, 338 

Dalhousie, Lord. 258 

Danes, 2, 91, 96 

Danish elements, 103 

Danelagh, 96 

Darjeeling, 230 

Darling, river, 480 

Dawlish, 170 

Dean Forest, 64 

Deccan, 229, 277 

Declaration of Independence, 22 

376 
Dee, river, 56 
— , in Scotland, 5S 
Delaware, 16 
Delhi, 26, 287 
Demerara, 472 



542 



INDEX. 



DEN 

Denbigh, 121 

Deodar Pine, 228 

Deptford,. 165 

Derajat, 286 

Derby, 155, 120, 43 

Derry, 144 

Derries, 64 

Derwent, 55 

Derwent, Tasmania, 510 

Derwentwater, 57 

Devonian System, 42 

Devonshire, 120 

Devonport, 165 

Dhuleep Sing, 257 

Dhar, 228 

Dharwar, 230 

Dholpoor, 298 

Diamonds, 229, 273 

Diaz Bartolomeo, 6, 342 

Dingo, 482 

Dingwall,. 123 

Diodorus Siculus, 92 

Dissenters, Protestant, 112, 145 

Doab, 229 

DolgeUy, 121, 152 

Dominica, 22, 457 

Don, river, 55, 58 

Donegal, 124 

Dorchester, 12 

Dornoch, 123 

Dorset, 120 

Dove, river, 56 

Dover, 167 

Down, 124, 144 

Downs, the, 56 

Drake, Sir Francis, 8 

Drogheda, 164 

Druids, 105 

Dublin, 125, 136 

— University, 148 

Duck-bill, 482 

Dudley, 156 

Dugong Fish, 508 

Dulwich College, 149 

Dumbarton, 124 

Dumfries, 123 

Duncansby Head, 58 

Dundalk, 124, 164 

Dundee, 162 



ERE 
Dunnet Head, 58, 36 
Dunse, 123 
DUrban, 351 
Durbars, 299 
Durham, 119, 144, 43 

— University, 147 

— Lord, 377 



I7AGLE ISLE, 87 
J East Anglia, 115 
Eastbourne, 169 
East Indies, first voyages to, 8 
East India Company, origin of, 11 

— home government, 252 

— cessation of monopoly, 254 

— close of, 261 
East Main, 422 

Eastern Straits settlements, 314 
Ebony, 306 
Eddy stone Eock, 86 
Edinburgh, 123, 135, 145 

— University of, 147 
Eig Isle, 77 
Elephants' teeth, 329 
Eleuthera Isle, 451 
Elgin, 123 

Ellenborough, Lord, 256 
Ely, 140 

Emigration, 34, 199 
Enderby, Mr., 532 

England, a kingdom, 4 ; mountains 
and rivers, 54 ; lakes, 56 ; 
islands, 78 ; counties, 119 ; ec- 
clesiastical centres, 137; educa- 
tional centres, 146 ; manufac- 
turing centres, 150; trading 
ports, 158 ; naval ports, 164 
coast towns, 165 ; spas. 174 
railways, 188 ; canals, 188 
population, 197 

English Channel, 39 

Ennerdale Water, 57 

Ennis, 125 

Enniskillen, 124 

Eocene strata, 44 

Episcopacy, 137 

Epping Forest, 65 

Erebus, mount, 534 



INDEX. 



543 



ERE 

Erie, lake, 367 
Ermyn Street, 181 
Errigal, mount, 60 
Esquimault, 427 
Esquimaux, 419 
Essequibo, 472 
Essex, 119 
Eton, 149 
Exeter, 120, 141 
Exmouth, 170 
Exuma, 451 



FACTOBIES, first Indian, 11 
Fair Isle, 75 
Falkland Isles, 30, 475 
Fenham Flats, 84 
Fens, 119 
Feme Isle, 86 
Festus Avienus, 93 
Fetlar Isle, 75 
Fife, 123 

Fig-tree, sacred, 307 
File j, 174 
Filibusters, 433 
Firth of Forth, 58 
Flax, 68 

Flax, New Zealand, 519, 529 
Flinders, Captain, 492, 511 
Flint, 121 
Folkestone, 168 
Foo-chow-foo, 321 
Forfar, 59, 124 
Fosse- way, 181 
Fort William, 265, 273 

— St. George, 12, 284, 416 

— St. David, 416 

— York, 421 

— Good Hope, 121 

— Macpherson, 421 
Foula Isle, 75 
Foyle, river, 60 

France, English dominions in, 5 
Eraser Eiver, 422 
Fredericton, 405 
Free Town, 333 

— villages, 447 
French Canadians, 385 
Fresco Isle, 80 



GRO 

Fullers' earth, 44 a 
Fur-trade, 419, 421 



pAELS, 90 

*T Gaelic languages, 100 

Galashiels, 152 

Galway, 125, 164 

Gama De, 7 

Gambia, 12, 327 

Ganges, 225, 232 

Gaspe, 380 

Geelong, 497 

George Town, Guiana, 473 

Caymanas, 450 

Georgia, 20 

German Ocean, 39 

Ghauts, 226, 282 

Ghonds, 289 

Giant's Causeway, 47 

Gibraltar, 18, 200 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 410 

Ginger, 445 

Glamorgan, 122 

Glasgow, 145, 154, 162 

— University, 148 
Glenmore, Vale of, 59 
Gloucester, 121, 142, 151, 162 
Golconda, 229 

Gold, 48, 226, 395 

— in British Columbia, 423, 425 

— New South Wales, 489 

— Victoria, 493 

— New Zealand, 528 
Gold Coast, 335 
Gondwarra, 238 
Goodwin Sands, 86 
Government, British, 192 

— Indian, 299 
Goza, 11 
Gozo, 206 
Grampians, 57 
Grassmere, 57 
Greenock, 162 
Grenada, 22, 463 
Grenadines, 463 
Gresham College, 149 
Grey Coat School, 149 
Ground-nuts, 329, 334 



544 



INDEX. 



GUE 

Guernsey, 83, 126 
Guiana, 26, 472 
Guildford, 119 
Guilds, 131 
Guisborough, 179 
Gujerat, 279 
Gum-tree, 481, 511 
Guntoon, 23 



HADDINGTON, 123 
Hairy-tails, 482 
Halifax, 152 

Halifax, Nova Scotia, 399 
Hamilton, Canada, 384 
— Bermuda, 416 
Hamilton Patrick, 112 
Hampshire, 92, 119 
Handa Isle, 77 
Hanningtons, 127 
Harbour Isle, 451 
Hardin ge, Sir Henry, 257 
Hargreaves, James, 154 
Hartlepool, 173 
Harris Island, 77 
Harrowgate, 178 
Harrow School, 149 
Hawes Water, 57 
Hawke's Bay, 526 
Hebrides, 4, 76 
Helena, St., 12, 352 
Heligoland, 26, 212 
Hereford, 42, 120, 142 
Herm Isle, 84 
Heme Bay, 85 
Hertford. 121 
High Sheriff, 117 
Highbury College, 149 
Highgate School, 149 
Hill tribes of India, 238 
Himalayas, 225 
Hinckley, 157 
Hindoos, 219, 235 
Hindostan, 219, 221 
Hindustani, 243 
Hissar, 286 
Hobart Town, 25 
Holy Island, 84 
Honduras, British, 17, 469 



IRE 
Hong Kong, 30, 322 
Hong merchants, 318 
Hooghly, 264 

— river, 232, 234 
Hops, 69 
Hottentots, 342 
Hoy Islands, 76 
Huddersfield, 152 
Hudson, Henry, 419 

— Bay, 360 

Territory, 17, 418 

Company, 420 

Huguenots, 97, 155 
Humber, 65 
Huntingdon, 121 
Huon, river, 510 
Huron, 367 
Hyder AH, 23, 284 
Hyderabad, 280, 298 






TCKNIELD STEEET, 181 

JL Igneous rocks, 41 

Inagua, 451 

Inchcape or Bell Eock, 77 

India, first intercourse with 
England, 9 ; early history, 
217 ; natural features, 225 ; 
inhabitants, 235 ; languages, 
242 ; religions, 245 ; literature, 
245 

Indians, American, 364, 418 

Indigo, 228, 268, 417, 438 

Indore, 298 

Indo-Chinese, 296 

Indus, 225, 232 

Industrial schools, 150 

Infant schools, 150 

Innisbofin, 87 

Inverary, 124 

Inverness, 123 

Ionian Isles, 27, 214 

Iona, or Icolmkill, 77 

Ipswich, 119 

— Queensland, 507 
Irawaddy, 233 
Ireland, conquest of, 4 

— area, 38; geology, 47; moun- 
tains, 59 ; rivers, loughs, 60 ; 



INDEX. 



545 



IRE 

bogs, 61 ; islands, 86 ; types 
of men, 98; language, 100; 
early divisions, 124 ; counties, 
124 ; Church, 144 ; population, 
197 

Ireland, Bermuda, 416 

Iron, 50, 227, 384 

Iron manufacture, 155 

Islay Isle, 77 



JAMAICA, 437; counties and 
towns, 446 ; government, &c. 
449 
James Town, 14 

St. Helena, 354 

Java cinnamon, 312 
Jedburgh, 123 
Jersey, 83, .126 
Jeypoor, 282 
John o' Groat's, 58. 
Jollofs, 328 
Judge's' circuits, 118 
Juggernaut, 273 
Jura Isle, 77 



KAFIKS, 349 
Kafir war, 345 
Kafraria, British, 32, 351 
Kam; phuli, river, 271 
Kandy, 311 
Kangaroos, 482 
Karens, 296 
Katties, 240 
Kauri Pine, 519 
Kelp, 76 
Kent, 115, 119 
Kent, Duke of, 408 
Kerry, 61, 125 
Kidderminster, 152 
Kildare, 125 
Kilkenny, 125 
Killaloe, 144 
Killarney, lakes, 60, 62 
Kilmarnock, 152 
Kilmore, 144 
Kincardine, 124 
King's County, 125 



LIG 

King's College, 149 
Kingston, Canada, 383 
Kingston, Jamaica, 447 
Kingstown, Ireland, 164 
— St. Vincent, 463 
Kinross, 123 
Kirkcudbright, 123 
Kirk of Scotland, 145 
Kirkwall, 123 
Knights of the Shire, 118 
Knockmeledown, 60 
Knox, John, 112 
Koh-i-noor diamond, 258 
Kookies, 271 
Kowtoon, 323 
Kurrachee, 289 



T ABKADOK, 419, 422 
JU Labuan, 31, 316 
Lagos, 32, 338 
Lahore, 287 
Lake Torrens, 480 
Lambeth, 135, 157 
Lammermoor Hills, 57 
Lanark, 123 
Lancashire, 120, 43 
Lancaster, 120 
Lancasterian Schools, 149 
Las Casas, 435 
Launceston, 120 
Launceston, Tasmania, 515 
Lead, 49, 226 
Learn, river, 177 
Leamington, 177 
Leeds, 152 

Leeward Isles, 430, 452 
Leicester, 120, 157 
Leichardt, Dr., 485 
Leinster, 124 
Leith, 162 
Leitrim, 125 
Lerwick, 123 
Lewes, 128 
Lewis Isle, 77 
Lias, 43 
Lichfield, 142 
Lifford, 124 
Liguanea Plain, 446 



N N 



546 



INDEX 



LIM 
Limerick, 164 
Lincoln, 119, 140 
Lindisfarne, 84 
Linen trade, 152 
Linlithgow, 123 
Linnhe, river, 58 
Lithographic stone, 369 
Liverpool, 159 

— Australia, 490 

— Nova Scotia, 398 
Lizard Point, 38 
Llandaff, 143 
Llandudno, 172 
Loch Lomond, 58 

— Ness, 58 
Logwood, 470 
London, 130, 139, 158 

— University, 147 

— 'Adventurers,' 14 

— Canada, 384 

-— East, Natal,' 351 
Londonderry, 164 
Longford, 125 
Long Isle, 451 

— Bahamas, 451 

Lothian, East and "West, 123 
Loughborough, 157 
Louth, 124 
Lowestoff Ness, 38 
Lowes "Water, 57 
Lucknow, 292 
Lunenburg, 398 
Lyttleton, New Zealand, 527 



M'ADAM, 186 
Macclesfield, 155 
Macgillicuddy Keeks, 60 
Mackenzie River, 421 
Macquarie Isle, 534 
Madras, 12, 281 
Madura, 282 
Magdalen Isles, 402 
Magellan, Fernando di, 8 
Magistrates, 117, 129 
Mahe, 358 
Mahogany, 451, 469 
Mahrattas, 26, 240, 250, 277 
Mahratta war, 253 



MOH 
Mainland, Orkneys, 76 
Maize, 434 
Malabar, 281 
Malabars, 308, 311 
Malacca, 27, 315 
Malta, 25, 206 
Malvern, 176 
Malvern Hills, 55 
Man, Isle of, 4, 78, 125 
Manchester, 144, 153, 155 
Mandingoes, 328 
Maple, 369 
Maple, sugar, 390 
Maories, 520 
Margate, 167 
Mariahs, 239 
Mariguana, 451 
Marlborough, New Zealand, 
Maroons, 439 
Maryborough, 125 
Maryland, 16 
Matlock, 154, 178 
Mauritius, 26, 356 
Maynooth College, 149 
Mayo, 125 
Mayors, first, 129 
Meath, 124, 144 
Medina, river, 82 
Meerut, 290 
Melbourne, 496 
Menai Straits, 78 
Mercator, G-erard, 8 
Mercia, 115 
Merioneth, 121 
Mersey, river, 56 
Merthyr Tydvil, 155 
Mestees, 448 
Metamorphic rocks, 46 
Mic-Macs, 395 
Michigan, lake, 367 
Middlesex, 121 
Middlesex, Jamaica, 446 
Minsh, the, 77 
Miramichi, river, 404 
Mirzapoor, 273 
Missionaries, 29, 329, 442 
Moa, the, 520 
Mogul Empire, 223, 250 
Mohammedans, 237 



526 



INDEX. 



547 



MOH 

Mohawks, 386, 372 
1 Mona, 78 
! Monaghan, 124 
: Monkey Hill, 455 
J Monks, trading, 3 

Monmouth, 120, 42 

Montcalm, De, 374 
I Montgomery, 121 

Montreal, 382, 380 

Montrose, 163 

Montserrat, 456 
I Moors, 309 
! Moorshedabad, 273 

Moray, 123 
! — and Ross, 145 

Moreton Bay, 505 

Mosquito territory, 471 

Moultan, 288 

Moy, river, 60 

Mughs, 274 

Mulattos, 448 

Mull, 77 

Municipal Institutions, origin, 129 

Mullingar, 124 

Murray, river, 480 

Murrumbidjee, 480 

Muskerry Mountains, 60 

Mutiny, Indian, 259 

Mysore, 25, 229, 282, 284 



"VTAGPORE, 229, 295 
±1 Nairn, 123 
Nanking, treaty of, 318 
Napier, 526 

— Sir Charles, 256 
Nassau, 451 
Natal, 31, 348 
National debt, 195 
National Schools, origin, 149 
Native States, India, 263 
Navy, English, 195 
Needles, the, 81 

Negros, 328 

Negro slavery, 325, 433 

— emancipation, 443 
Nellore, 281, 285 
Nenn, river, 56 
Nepaul, 298 



OJI 
Nephin Beg, 60 
Nerbudda, 226, 295 
Nevis, 455 
New Amsterdam, 473 

— Brighton, 172 

— Brunswick, 403 

counties of, 405 

Newcastle, 160 

— Australia, 490 
New England, 15 
Newfoundland, 7, 15, 409 
New Holland, 478 

— Jersey, 17 

— Leinster, 518, 30 

— Netherlands, 16 

— Munster, 30, 518 

— Norfolk, 512 

— Providence, 451 

— Plymouth, 526 

— South Wales, 24, 487 

— Ulster, 30, 518 

— "Westminster, 426 
— ■ Red -Sandstone, 43 

— Zealand, 29, 517 

counties and towns, 525 

— ■ — Company, 523 
Newry, 164 
Niagara Falls, 367 
Nilgherry Mountains, 226 
Ningpo, 321 
Norfolk, 119 

— Isle, 24, 529 

— Pine, 529 
Normans, 2, 4, 96 
Northampton, 121 
Northumberland, 43, 119, 115 
North West Provinces, 289 
Norwegians, 91, 96 
Norwich, 119, 142, 152 
Notitia Imperii, 93 
Nottingham, 120, 157 

Nova Scotia, 15, 394 

counties and towns, 398 

Nuddea, 266 
Nutmegs, 306, 315 

OAKHAM, 121 
Ochil Hills, 57 
Ojibbeways, 306 

2 



548 



INDEX. 



OLD 
Oldham, 153 
Old Sarum, 140 
Omagh, 124 
Ontario, lake, 367 
Oolite, 44 

Opium, 228, 269, 318 
Opossums, 482 
Orcades, 76 
Oregon, treaty of, 420 
Orissa, 282 
Orkneys, 5, 76 
Ossory, 144 
Otago, 527 
Ottawa, 384 

— river, 368 
Oude, 32, 258, 291 
Ouse, river, 55 

— Great, 56 
Oxford, 121, 141 

— University, 146 



PAGODA of Kangoon, 297 
Paisley, 154 
Palm oil, 329, 334 
Palmetto, 417 
Pariahs, 236 
Parishes, 116, 137 
Parliament, first, 193 
Parry Mountains, 534 
Parsees, 237, 277 
Parys Mountains, 79 
Patna, 273 

Peak of Derbyshire, 55 
Pearls, 226, 316 
Pearl fishery, 312 
Pearl, river, 421 
Peebles, 123 
Pegu, 32, 295 
Pembroke, 121, 165 
Penmanmaur, 172 
Pennine Kange, 55 
Pennsylvania, 17 
Pepper, 11, 306 

Permanent Settlement Act, 268 
Perth, 124 

— West Australia, 504 
Peshawar, 286 
Peterborough, 142 



QUI 

Petroleum, 369 
Phillip, Captain A., 24 
Phoenicians, 48 
Picton, 526 
Picts, 91 

Plassy, battle of, 21 
Pleistocene, 45 
Pleiocene, 45 
Plymouth, 161, 165 

— Montserrat, 456 
Plynlimmon, 55 
Point de Galle, 311 
Pomona, 76 
Poonah, 277 

Ports, trading, of England, 158 

— naval, of England, 164 

— of Scotland, 162 

— of Ireland, 163 
Port Jackson, 24 

— Louis, 357 

— Phillip, 28, 492 

— Eoyal, 447 

— of Spain, 467 
Portsea, 164 
Portsmouth, 164 
Post, 189 

— of India, 301 

— of Canada, 389 
Potatoes, 67 
Potteries, 156 
Pozzualano, 463 
Preston, 153 

Prince Edward Isle, 24, 406 
Protestantism, origin, 112 
Pulo-penang, 23, 314 
Punjaub, 32, 286 
Puritans, 112 
Purneah, 273 
Pyramid Isle, 531 



QUEBEC, 371, 375, 380, 381 
Queen's County, 125 
Queen's College, 149 
Queensland, 504 
— districts of, 507 
Queen's University, 148 
Quinine, 230 



1NT>EX. 



549 



EAD 

EADNOB, 122 
Eagged Isle, 451 

— Schools, origin, 150 
Baggi, 228 
Bailways, 187 

— of India, 275, 280, 286, 288, 301 

— Canada, 389 

— Nova Scotia, 400 

— New Brunswick, 406 

— Australia, 497 

— Cape Colony, 347 
Ealeigh, Sir W., 13, 467 
Earns ey Isle, 86 
Eamseymere, 56 
Eamsgate, 167 
Eangoon, 297 
Eathlin Isle, 87 
Eeading, 119 
Beculver, 85 
Eedonda Isle, 457 

Eed Biver Settlement, 421 
Eeformation, the, 112 
Beformatories, origin, 150 
Eegulation Provinces, 266 
Benfrew, 156 
Bevenue, British, 195 

— Indian, 300 
Ehododendron, 228 
Ehyl, 172 
Bibble, river, 173 
Eice, 228, 306, 312, 315 
Bichibuctoos, 395 
Eideau Canal, 387 

Eig Veda, 246 
Bipon, 144 

Eoads of England, 180 
' — Eoman, 180 
Eoad Town, 458 
Eochdale, 152, 153 
Eochester, 141 
Eocky Mountains, 423 
Eoman occupancy of Britain, 93; 

remains, 93 ; elements in the 

language, 103 ; divinities, 107 ; 

provinces, 114 
Eomanism, first introduced into 

England, 111 
Eoscommon, 125 



SED 

Eoseau, 457 
Boss, 58, 123 
Eothsay, 123 
Eound Towers, 105 
Eoxburgh, 123 
Eubies, 226 
Eugby, 149 
Eum Isle, 77 
Rum Cay, 451 
Eunjeet Sing, 257 
Eupert's Land, 421 
Eupert's Eiver, 420 
Bussian Company, 7 
Bydal, 57 
By otwary System, 283 

^ABLE Isle, 396, 401 

t i Sago, 315, 316 

Salisbury, 140 

Salt, 52, 369, 451 

Saltpetre, 271 

Sambo, 448 

Sandal wood, 229 

Sandrock, 179 

San Salvador, 451,431 

Sankey Brook Canal, 189 

Sanscrit, 244 

Sapplewiek, 154 

Sark, 84, 126 

Satin wood, 306, 438 

Sattara, 276 

Saxons, 94 

— remains, 95 

— worship, 108 

■ — kingdoms, 115 
Scandinavian, 96 
Scarborough, 173 

— Tobago, 465 
Schyremotes. 116 
Scilly Isles, 79, 92, 125 
Scotland, geology, 46 ; mountains 

and rivers, 58 ; lochs and firths, 
59 ; islands, 74 ; races of men, 
98 ; language, 100 ; divisions 
and counties, 122; Church, 145 : 
population, 197 

Seal fisheries, 79, 413 

Secondary rocks, 43 

Sedimentary rocks, 41 



550 



INDEX. 



SEL 
Selkirk, 12$ 
Senegal, 327 
Sepoys, 251 
Sessions Courts, 118 
Seven Years' War, 37'4 
Severn, 55 
Seychelles, 358 
Shannon, 60 
Shawl Plateaux, 231 
Sheerness, 165 
Sheppy Isle, 85 
Sherwood Forest, 64 
Shetland Isles, 74 
Ships, first merchant, 3 
Shipbuilding, 157 
Shire, 115 
Shirkapoor, 28 
Shrewsbury, 120 
Sidlaw Hills, 57 
Sidmouth, 170 
Sierra Leone, 24, 33 Q 
Sikhs, 236, 286 
Sikh war, 257 
Silhet, 270 
Silk, 228, 321 
Silk trade, 154 
Silures, 42 
Silver, 48, 226 
Simlah, 289 
Sinde, 31, 258, 279 
Singapore, 27, 315 
Singhalese, 308, 311 
Sivajee, 240 
Skomer, isle, 86 
Skye, isle, 77 
Skyths or Scots, 91 
Slate, 53 
Slave trade, 325 
— — abolition of, 443 
Slaves in India, 241 
Sligo, 125 

Sloane, Sir Hans, 439 
Snowdon, 54 
Sodor and Man, 144 
Solway, 58 

Somerset, 120, 142, 151 
Southampton, 161 
South Australia, 29, 498 
South East Passage, 6 



SUT 

Southlands, 527 
Southport, 173 
South West Passage, 8 
South Victoria, 534 
Spanish Town, 446 
Spas of England, 174 
Spitalfields, 155 
Sponges, 451 
Staffa, 77 
Stafford, 120, 156 
Staple, origin of, 150 
Sterling, origin of, 196 
Stirling, 156 
Stewart, Mr., 486 
Stockport, 153 
Stonehaven, 124 
Stonehenge, 106 
Stourbridge, 157 
Strathmore, vale of, 59 
Stroud, 152 
Strutt, Messrs. 154 
Strychnine, 312 
Sturt, Captain, 28 
St. Andrew, 145 

— University, 148 
St. Asaph, 143 

— Christopher, 454 

— Davids, 143 

— Francis, 380 

— Helena, 352 

— John, Antigua, 453 

— Lawrence, 360, 368 

— Lucia, 25, 461 

— John, New Brunswick, 405 

— John, river, 404 

— Vincent, 462 
Subsidiary System, 252 
Suddya, 270 

Suffolk, 119 

Sugar, 229, 315, 434, 460 

— Ants, 464, 465 
Sumbulpoor, 273 
Sunday Schools, origin, 149 
Superior, lake, 367 

Surat, 11, 275 
Surrey, 119 

— Jamaica, 446 
Sussex, 119, 115 
Sutherland, 58 



1 



INDEX. 



551 



SUT 

Sutlej, river, 286 
— States, 286 
Suttee, 254 
Swan Kiver, 28, 502 
Sydenham, Lord, 377 
Sydney, 490 
Sydney, C. Breton, 401 
Syenite, 83 



fT ABACCA, 465 
1 Table Mountain, 340 

Taeping Eebellion, 319 

Tamar, river, 510 

Tamarinds, 306 

Tamil, 243, 311 

Tanjore, 285 

Tanks, 233, 305 

Tannah, 277 

Tapu, 521 

Taranaki, 526 

Tasmania, 25, 510 

— counties and towns, 515 
Tattah, 280 

Tea, 270, 321 

— trade, 13, 318 
Tees, 56 
Teignmouth, 171 
Telegraphs, 190, 301, 389 
Telford, 186 
Tenasserim, 27, 295 
Tenby, 171 

Tertiary rocks, 44 

Teutonic races in England, 91 ; 

divinities, 107 ; languages, 

101 
Thames, 55 

— Canada, 384 
Thanet, isle of, 85 
Three Eivers, 380, 382 
Thugs, 241 

"Tientsin, treaty of, 319 
Timber, 64, 390 

Tin, 48, 226 
Tipperah, 298 
Tipperary, 125 
Tippoo Saib, 23 
Tiree Isle, 77 
Tobacco, 18, 228, 306 



VIR 

Tobago, 22, 464 
Toronto, 384 
Torbay, 171 
Torquay, 171 
Tortoise shell, 312 
Tortola, 458, 470 
Tory Isle, 87 
Toulahs, 328 
Towns, origin of, 126 
— government of, 128 
Tralee, 125 
Travancore, 282 
Tree-fern, 481, 519 
Trent, river, 55 
Trichinopoly, 285 
Trim, 124 
Trincomalee, 311 
Trinidad, 24, 466 
Trowbridge, 152 
Tuam, 144 
Tullamore, 125 
Tunbridge Wells, 171 
Turnpike Act, first, 182 
Tweed, 58 
Tynemouth, 173 
Tyrone, 124 



UIST, North and South, 77 
Ulleswater, 57 
Ulster, 124 
Umritsur, 288 
United States, 14 
Unst Isle, 75 
Upas tree, 463 



T^ALENCIA Island, 87 
V Valetta, 209 
Vancouver Isle, 423, 426 
Veddahs, 311 
Venetian trade, 5, 8 
Victoria, colony, 28, 491 
Victoria, Vancouver, 427 
Victoria, Hong Kong, 323 
Victoria Mountains, 534 
Vincent, St., 22, 462 
Vindhya Mountains, 226 
Virgin Isles, 458 



552 



INDEX. 



VIR 






Virginia, 14 
Volunteer force, 195 

JTT AITANGI, congress of, 30, 

Wales, annexation of, 4 ; geology 
of, 42; language, 100, 102; 
counties, 121 ; bishoprics, 143 

Walsall, 156 

Warren Hastings, 252 

Warwick, 121 

Washington, George, 374 

W T ash, the, 55 

Wast Water, 57 

Waterford, 164 

Water-shed, 55 

Watling Street, 181 

Watt, James, 156, 187 

Wattle, silver, 511 

Wedgewood, Josiah, 157 

Welland, river, 56 

— canal, 387 
Wellesley, Marquis, 252 
Wellington, New Zealand, 526 

— Duke of, 25, 26, 253 
WeUs, 140 
Welshpool, 152 

West Indies, 429 
Western Australia, 27, 501 
Westminster, 132 

— Abbey, 131 

— school, 149 
Westmoreland, 56 
Weston-super-Mare, 171 
Weymouth, 170 
Wexford. 164 
Whales, 76, 413 

Whale Fishing Company, 532 
Whalsey Isle, 75 
Whichwood Forest, 65 
Whitby, 173 
Whitehaven, 161 
Whittlebury Forest, 65 



ZUL 



Whittlesea Mere, 56 
Wick, 123 
Wickliffe, John, 112 
Wicklow, 125 
Wigan, 153 
Wight, Isle of, 80, 119 
Wigtown, 123 
William the Conqueror, 4 
Williams Town, 497 
Willoughby, Sir Hugh, 7 
Wills, W. J., 486 
Wiltshire, 120 
Winchester, 119, 131, 140 

— College, 149 
Windermere, 57 
Windsor Forest, 65 

— Australia, 490 

— Nova Scotia, 398 
Windwards, the, 430, 461 
Wishart, 112 
Witham, 56 

Witney, 152 
Wold Hills, 44 
Wolfe, General, 375 
Wolf-fox, 475 
Wolverhampton, 156 
Wool, 150, 346, 489 
Woolmer Forest, 65 
Woolwich, 165 
Worcester, 121, 142, 157 
Worsted, 152 
Worthing, 169 

T7ANGTSEKIANG river, 
I 321 
Yarmouth, 161 

— Nova Scotia, 398 
Yew-trees, oldest, 65 
York, 119, 138, 143, 151 

7AMIAS, 281 

/j Zante, 214 
Zulu Kafirs, 349 






f£ 



270 



PKINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-SIEEET SQUAEE, LONDON". 



